
Class 
Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



v® 




\J A. N. Marquis £Go/nPAhY~ 

CHICAGO. 



?\v Era Series. No. i. Issued Monthly. Price, $3.00 Per Year. August, 1897. 




CLAIM IT*? ELDORADO 
CREEK 



The Cld\m is 80 Fee r 
from Rim RocK to. Rim 
KocK 



F ronPcipe on CreeK is 
500Peer 



mm 



ism 



m 



mam 



•.i> : .»£y.: : .V' 






Ground aLove i3ed 
RocK always Prozen 






I b Feel' of Gravel and 

Sand Mixed 
fc>id pom .50 to # 5w 
Per Pan 



iFeetofGrdvel Fine *nj 
Coa ri pa i a from*! - Co 
*5 °-° Per Pan 

Pe r- Pan A-vevaoe 
if> 7 FeeVFi n7Bfa-cK"Sa ud 
ye it a i n£ £ 4'0..PtrPt 1 . 



Shale 

JDepfh nol" Known 



DIAGRAM OF GOLD CLAIM ON EL DORADO CREEK. 

$40,000 was taken from the shaft alone. 




This drawing, from sketch made on the spot by New York Journal 
artist at the Grand Hotel, San Francisco, shows bags, belonging to 
Clarence J. Berry, which contained over $84,000 in nuggets and gold 
dust. As they stood on the table, they measured 8j£ x 13>£ inches. 



The Gold Fields 
of the Klondike 



FORTUNE SEEKERS' GUIDE 

TO THE YUKON REGION OF ALASKA 

AND BRITISH AMERICA 



THE STORY AS TOLD BY LADUE, BERRY, PHISCATOR AND 
OTHER GOLD EINDER5 



JOHN W. LEONARD 



<Klitb Maps, Diagrams and Illustrations 



CHICAGO: 



; \ | 
A. N. MARQUIS & COMPANY \A ^ ^ 

1897 



a 



t' 



Copyright, 1897, by A. N. Marquis & Company. 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



c^ 



V X 



<5> 



PREFACE. 



Some books are written for the same purpose that rural 
newspapers are established — "to fill a long-felt want." The 
volume now presented, however, aims rather to fill a new- 
felt want, which, just now, is pressing and wide-spread, 
for complete and reliable information about the new land of 
gold, for the word "Klondike" now fills every mouth and 
every ear. 

The subject being timely, the writer has endeavored to 
apply the advantages of an experience covering years of life 
in mining camps in different parts of the world, in such a 
manner as to answer the questions daily being asked about 
the latest El Dorado and gold mining methods. 

The story of the Klondike discoveries here told is 
that of those who saw them and were part of them, and the 
facts in regard to Alaska, Northwestern Territory and the 
Yukon Region have been gathered from the last and latest 
resources of information. 

For those going to the mines the preparations to be made, 
the outfit required, the details of the route, and the methods 
of prospecting and mining are minutely described, and the 
mining laws, both of Canada and the United States, are 
given, so that the prospector may know his duties as well 
as his rights. 

For those who stay at home the story will be none the 
less interesting, as the Klondike and its doings will long 
continue to be an important subject of discussion. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 



The writer and publishers of this book are indebted to 
so many people for facts, incidents and subjects of illustra- 
tion that individual acknowledgment is scarcely possible. 

Special thanks, however, are due to the Chicago and 
New York daily press, these newspapers having furnished 
a large amount of material for the compilation and illustra- 
tion of this work. 

Thanks are also due to returned Klondikers for informa- 
tion in regard to the mining regions, which they have fur- 
nished for this volume. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. PAGE 

Gold on the Klondike ; Wealth-Laden Gravel in a New El Dorado. . 13 

CHAPTER II. 
The Klondike Discoveries; How Adventurous Poineers Found For- 
tune in the River Banks 18 

CHAPTER III. 
Pioneers of the Klondike; Stories of Those Who Were in the First 
Rush to the Bonanza District 35 

CHAPTER IV. 
Joseph Ladue's Story; The Klondike Strike Described by the Owner 
of Dawson 56 

CHAPTER V. 
Official Reports; High Authority Confirms the Richness of the Klon- 
dike Strike 65 

CHAPTER VI. 
The Yukon Region; General Description of the Great Gold Fields 
District 72 

CHAPTER VII. 
Yukon Gold Country; Mining Developments in Alaska and North- 
west Territory 84 

CHAPTER VIII. 
How to Get There; Who Should Go, and How They Must Outfit and 
Travel 98 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Juneau Routes; How to Go Down the Yukon from its Head- 
Waters 115 

CHAPTER X. 
Dawson City ; Description of the Metropolis of the Yukon 131 

CHAPTER XI. 
How Women Fare; Experiences of Mrs. Berry and Mrs. Gage, Told 
by Themselves 154 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Climate; Those who Go to the Klondike Must Prepare for Cold 
Weather 170 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Gold and its Distribution; Quartz and Placers; How Gold Came to 
the Klondike 174 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Working Placer Mines; How Gold is Taken from the Ground in the 
Klondike District 180 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Law and the Miner; How the Prospector Must Proceed to Get 
His Claim 188 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Alaska; Facts About the Land of Ice, Seals and Gold 206 



ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS AND DIAGRAMS. 



The Gold Fields of the Klondike (Diagram) i 

Diagram of Gold Claim. El Dorado Creek 2 

Placer Miner's Tools and Implements 3 

Berry's Treasure 4 

On the Road to the Klondike — At Sheep Camp 19 

Two " Pans " of Coarse Gold, Bottled 25 

Clarence J. Berry 27 

Joseph Ladue 31 

Frank Phiscator, of Baroda, Mich 33 

William M. Stanley 37 

Gage Worden 37 

Joseph Ladue's Sawmill 41 

Exact Size of a Nugget Valued at $231 ; . 47 

At Stone House, Chilcoot Pass , 49 

Miners and Indians on the Summit at Chilcoot Pass 55 

Nugget Imbedded in a Pebble 59 

The Treasure Ship ' ' Portland " 63 

Miles Canon, Lewis River 67 

One of the First Houses in Dawson City 75 

McQuesten's Store at Circle City, Alaska 77 

The Treadwell Mill, Douglas Island 83 

Rafting Through the Ice on the Yukon 89 

Prospecting on one of the Tributaries of the Klondike 93 

A " Cache " on the Yukon 96 

Camping on Klondike River 97 

At Circle City 99 

Steamboat Landing at Dawson City 103 



ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS AND DIAGRAMS 

PAGE 

Trading Post, Fort Selkirk 107 

On the Way to the Yukon, with Horses in 

The Treasure Steamship "Excelsior," with Her Captain, J. F. Higgins. 113 

Dawson City 117 

Store at Forty-Mile 123 

Prospectors' Camp on the Klondike 125 

Home of Joseph Ladue, Founder of Dawson 128 

Winter Route to the Mines with Dog-Sled 129 

Bringing Home the Gold 135 

Climbing Chilcoot Pass 138 

Champion Pan for One Month, El Dorado 142 

Miners at Sheep Camp 145 

Mrs. Clarence J. Berry 155 

Mrs. E. F. Gage 163 

Klondike Miner in Winter Attire 177 

Mine in Klondike Region, Showing Sluice-Boxes in Place 185 

Canadian Mounted Police, in Dress Uniform 189 

Canadian Mounted Police 191 

' Rocking Out" Gold on the Klondike 2oi v 

Jack " McQuesten, " Father of the Yukon " 207 

'Panning Out " Gold on the Klondike 213 

Map of Alaska and British Northwest Territory 

, (Attached to inside of back cover.) 



The Gold Fields of the Klondike* 

CHAPTER I. 
GOLD ON THE KLONDIKE. 

WEALTH-LADEN GRAVEL IN A NEW EL DORADO. 

Gold for the digging! No piece of news that wires can 
flash will set more hopes to work than this; for gold means 
money, ease, comfort, freedom from thousands of cares. 
What if the road to it be long, full of peril, adventure and 
perhaps suffering, if a year or two of strenuous labor will 
bring to one who has toiled, unrequited, for years, the means 
of future independence? Given a sound constitution, a stout 
heart, and American grit, and mere physical obstacles will 
have little weight so that gold in plenty rewards the pur- 
suit, and the hard knocks of experience are paid for in want- 
dispelling affluence. 

SHORTER ROAD TO WEALTH. 

All industry is prosecuted for the purpose of securing a 
living, and is mere drudgery unless there be a hope that a 
surplus over a mere living can be secured to guard old age 
from poverty. Therefore nearly every active man is seek- 
ing some shortened road by which wealth can be secured. 
None of these is so attractive as that which leads to virgin 
gold — gold which can be had by the mere act of delving for 

'3 



14 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

it and washing from it the earth or dirt by which it has 
been hid but not contaminated. 

GOLD ATTRACTED THOUSANDS. 

Gold in California attracted hundreds of thousands of 
people to make the tempestuous voyage around Cape Horn, 
or the shorter but not less perilous trip over the miasmatic 
Panama route, to the Golden Gate, and thence to the foothills 
of the Sierra, where they delved and tunneled and panned 
and fiumed, many to find only disappointment, but a large 
number also to find that which they sought — -a golden for- 
tune. 

Gold in Australia made thousands venture into the heart 
of an unknown country, much of it a desert, and at Bal- 
larat, Sandhurst, Bendigo or over the mountains to the 
Echuca diggings, and now thousands are seeking it in West 
Australia. 

Gold in South Africa has opened up a very large area of 
the Dark Continent to civilized settlement and is adding 
millions annually to the world's wealth. 

Gold has been found during recent years in many parts 
of the United States, but mostly in quartz mines which take 
machinery and large capital to develop them properly. 
Many a man has sighed for days like those of '49, when a 
man could take a pick, a shovel, a pan and a stout heart and 
seek his fortune with a reasonable expectation of finding it. 
Thousands have longed to repeat the experiences of the 
Argonauts of that famous period, and dig for gold dust and 
nuggets in the earth. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 15 

The chance has come again ! And the goal of opportunity 
is the Klondike, in British America, near the Alaska boun- 
dary. From there we hear wonderful reports, which, ex- 
travagant as they may appear, are confirmed from many 
sources, official and otherwise, to such an extent as to make 
the wonderful richness of that region beyond dispute. Only 
a comparatively small portion of the auriferous area has been 
prospected in any systematic manner, but every indication 
points to the fact that there, in the frozen North, is a country 
whose riches exceed "the wealth of Ormusandof Ind," and 
of which are told, by staid officials and matter-of-fact pio- 
neers, stories which sound like the romances of Schehera- 
zade. 

Except to the pioneers who found the way to the new 
diggings in the fall of 1896 and winter of 1897, tne nam e, 
even, of the Klondike was unknown to all except to a very 
few white persons. It was omitted from a majority of the 
maps and spelled "Chandik" in nearly all the others, and if 
the name had been spoken in any company it would have 
aroused no interest. 

KLONDIKE SUDDENLY FAMOUS. 

All this was changed in the middle of July, 1897. Op 
the 15th the steamer " Excelsior" arrived at San Francisco, 
bringing about forty passengers, from St. Michaels, Alaska, 
among whom were fifteen who had won fortune in the 
Klondike district. The story of these men appeared in the 
principal papers of the country, but many of the journals 
made little of the story — evidently doubting its truth, be- 



1 6 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

cause the statements made appeared so extravagant. 
Two days later the steamer " Portland" arrived at Seattle, 
Wash., with sixty-eight passengers from the Klondike. Of 
these not one had brought less than $5,000 and one or two 
had over $100,000. Their stories were even more wonder- 
ful than those narrated by the passengers of the " Excelsior." 
They told of thawing out frozen gravel in the cold arctic 
winter, of washings yielding as high as $150 to $200 to 
the pan of "dirt," of poverty changed to riches, of hard- 
ships requited by opulence, of great suffering from poor 
fare and a rigorous climate, but large returns to all who 
worked. 

STORIES VERIFIED. 

These stories have been more than verified by subsequent 
reports, some of which are from government officials, the 
Dominion chief of internal boundary survey, the governor 
of the Canadian Northwest Territory, as well as many 
others, of the United States and Canada. It is unquestion- 
ably true, beyond dispute, that in the Canadian Northwest 
Territory and Alaska, and in fact for hundreds of miles, in 
the valleys of the Yukon and its tributaries, is an auriferous 
region as large as or larger than that of California, part of 
which, at least, is richer than any district ever known in the 
history of placer mining. 

It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the people of 
this country have been filled with excitement, and that there 
is a general demand for information about the Klondike 
discoveries; the character of the Klondike country and 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 1 7 

adjacent regions of Northwest Territory and Alaska; the 
climate, resources, food supplies and other information as to 
things to be done, seen and endured ; the route to be taken, 
requisite outfit and supplies, cost of living, chances of suc- 
cess, etc. It is known that the climate is a rigorous one, 
and there is a general desire to know the impediments and 
dangers of winter in that region, and the obstacles to be met 
with on the way. 

Many inquirers also desire to know something about gold 
mining in general, the processes and methods pursued and 
the details of the miners' life. To answer these questions 
in a plain, concise manner, so as to meet the needs of the in- 
quiring public, is the object of the chapters which follow. 



CHAPTER II. 
THE KLONDIKE DISCOVERIES. 



HOW ADVENTUROUS PIONEERS FOUND FORTUNE IN THE 
RIVER BANKS. 

Ever since the United States acquired Russian America 
by purchase, and named it " Alaska" after a suggestion of 
Charles Sumner, there have been rumors of great min- 
eral wealth there. In southeastern Alaska there is the 
famous Treadwell Mine, on Douglass Island, opposite 
Juneau, a wide vein of low grade ore, in the reduction of 
which a 240-stamp quartz mill, the largest in the world, is 
used. 

Several years ago there were rumors of important alluvial 
gold deposits on the Upper Yukon. The head-waters of 
the river were discovered by the Hudson Bay Company, in 
1840. A government exploration of the region on behalf 
of the United States was made by Dr. W. H. Dall and 
Frederick Whymper, who wintered on the Upper Yukon in 
1865. The first prospecting party went over the Chilkoot 
Pass in 1880, and since then miners have gone by that route 
in increasing numbers. In 1886 there were numerous parties 
attracted to the Yukon diggings, but the results were not 
very encouraging. William C. Greenfield, who completed 

18 



20 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

the account of the Yukon River District for the United 
States census of 1890, reported : " Alining cannot be called 
a success on the Yukon, up to the present time. Since the 
first excitement in 1886, there have been but few instances 
of individuals taking more than $2,000 for two or three 
seasons' work." 

Years ago the Hudson Bay Company established, about 
eight miles northwest of the mouth of the Klondike, a trad- 
ing post which was called Fort Reliance, since abandoned. 
Its exact location is latitude 64 ° 13', longitude 138 50', or 
fifty statute miles east of the boundary line of 141 °. About 
forty miles northwest, down the river, is the mouth of 
Forty-Mile Creek, where Fort Cudahy is located, and about 
240 miles further down the Yukon is Circle City. At the 
latter place, and on Forty-Mile Creek, the principal activity 
in placer mining on the Yukon had centered. 

GEORGE M'CORMACK. 

One of those who had been engaged in mining at the 
Forty-Mile camp was George McCormack, a native of 
Illinois. He went to the Upper Yukon region in 1887 as 
a member of the surveying party of William Ogilvie, chief 
of the Canadian Internal Boundary Survey. He left that 
employ and became a prospector and miner, took an Indian 
squaw wife of the Takuth tribe, known locally as the 
"Sticks," and from that fact became known among the 
white Yukon miners as " Stick George." The " Sticks" have 
a village at the junction of the Klondike and Yukon, and 
McCormack, who had not done well in Forty-Mile, heard 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 21 

from the Indians rumors of large gold deposits on the 
hranches of the Klondike. He went up to the first branch, 
and earlv in August, 1S96, located a placer claim. Then, 
to get provisions, he worked cutting logs for a mill at Forty- 
Mile camp, and at the end of August returned to his claim 
with his Indian wife and brother-in-law and set to work. 
The gravel had to be carried in a box on his back from 
thirty to one hundred feet and everything had to be done in 
the crudest and most laborious manner, yet the three, 
working very irregularly, washed out $1,200 in eight days. 
McCormack says, with reason, that if he had possessed the 
proper facilities he could have washed the same amount of 
gravel in two days. 

McCormack let his friends at Forty-Mile know of his 
luck. Clarence J. Berry and others went early- Many 
other miners did not go with the rush, thinking the report 
only another of the disappointing hoaxes so often set on 
foot in mining communities. Most of those who went to 
the new camp were novices — " tenderfeet" as they are 
called, or " Chee Chacoes" (new men) in the Yukon dialect — 
whose hope was greater than their experience. These 
pioneers of the Klondike named the tributary on which Mc- 
Cormack had located his claim " Bonanza Creek,'* and it has 
fully borne out its designation. Then another branch, 
which flows into Bonanza Creek before it reaches the 
Klondike, was explored by F. W. Cobb, a Harvard grad- 
uate, and he and his partner. Frank Phiscator, a farmer 
from Baroda, Mich., located their claims on this creek. 
They found their claims washed $10 to the pan of surface dirt. 



22 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

STUDDED WITH GOLD. 

"Frank," said the Harvard man to his partner, "this 
creek is studded with gold from here to head-waters. We 
will call it El Dorado." And thus was appropriately named 
the famous brook which has made many fortunes in the 
past few months and is making others to-day. 

The first dozen or so of prospectors who arrived on the 
ground were followed in a few days by 150 more, who 
came in on the steamer "Ellis," and a stampede from Circle 
City, Forty-Mile and other camps was the result of the 
find. Still it was the "tenderfeet" who showed the great- 
est faith in the future of the developments. William D. 
Johns, writing from Dawson City under date of June 18, 
gives a most graphic statement of the subsequent history of 
these wonderful gold discoveries up to that time. He says: 

" Few had much faith in the new region even after they 
were on the ground, and in spite of the rich prospects on 
the surface it was generallv regarded as a 'grub-stake' strike 
on which one might succeed in getting a winter outfit. A 
little later, howe\er, the prospects found on the river called 
forth the half-skeptical remark that 'if it goes down it is 
the greatest thins.- on earth.' Then a few began to believe 
in the new diggings, but many old miners even vet would 
not stake out claims, thinking the creek too wide for gold. 
A number of side gulches along the Bonanza were staked, 
among them El Dorado, which was rich in gravel near 
the mouth. But so little faith was manifested in the region 
that claim holders could net get 'grub' from the stores in ex- 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 23 

change for their prospects. There was a general fear that 
these might be only 'skim diggings.' 

FABULOUSLY RICH PAY DIRT. 

u In December bed rock was reached on No. 14 El Dorado 
and fabulously rich pay dirt was found. Then more holes 
went down in a hurry. Everywhere were discovered pros- 
pects on bed rock ranging from $5 to $150 to the pan. The 
gold was nearly all coarse. Still the greatness of the strike 
was not realized. Some of the best claims were sold by 
their owners for a few hundreds or a few thousands. 
Drifting was carried on by the usual winter process of 
'burning,' and the pay dirt taken out as rapidly as possi- 
ble under the difficulties of intense cold. Pans as rich as 
$500 were discovered, and nuggets containing gold worth 
as high as $235 were brought to light. Claims jumped 
up enormously in price, but still many men sold for a small 
part of the value of their holdings. They seemed wholly 
unable to realize their good fortune. Doubts were still 
expressed about the dumps holding out to the prospects. 

" Then the test — sluicing — came in the spring when the ice 
melted and the water ran down from the hills. Then the 
wildest hopes of the toiling miners were realized. Despite 
the lateness of commencing work and the scarcity of men 
about $1,500,000 was taken out of El Dorado alone. On 
some of the richer claims men who secured ground to work 
on shares — 50 per cent— cleared $5,000 to $10,000 apiece 
in from thirty days' to two months' drifting. As high as 
$150,000 was drifted out of one claim, the other sums be- 



24 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

ing less. From seventy-five feet of ground on Nos. 25 and 
26, El Dorado, $112,000 was taken, or $1,500 per running 
foot, and the pay not cross-cut, for it frequently runs from 
vein to vein, being in places 150 feet wide. 

$500,000 FOR A CLAIM. 

"Ground has sold here this spring for over $1,000 a run- 
ning foot, or at the rate of $500,000 for a claim of 500 feet. 
Men on whose judgment reliance can be placed and who base 
their opinion on w 7 hat their own ground and that of others 
has yielded, tell me that there are claims here from which 
over $1,000,000 will come. Last winter men on 'lays' 
(percentage) left 50-cent dirt because they had better in 
sight and only a limited time before spring to get out ore. 
Owing to the large number of men on 'lays' the production of 
almost every claim is known, and no overstatement is pos- 
sible, since so many are interested in the amount of gold 
produced. As soon as sluicing was fairly under way the 
price of claims jumped again and but few would sell. It 
might almost be said that no one would part with a claim 
on El Dorado. On Bonanza, where the pay, except on a 
few claims, is not as rich as on El Dorado, owners who had 
looked in vain for the $5, $10 and $150 pans, which were 
plentiful on the rival creek, were disgusted with their 
moderate gains and were willing to sell. Thus many claims 
having 20 to 50 cent dirt and three to seven feet of it were 
sold. On the boat which takes this letter down the Yukon 
will be many men, some of them having been in this 
country onlv a few months when the strike was made, who 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 




A pan of dirt, in miner's parlance, contains two shovelfuls of the 
usual "California pattern" miner's shovel. Fifteen cents to the pan 
is considered "good wages." The small bottle shown on the left-hand 
side i hows, actual size, the gold found in one pin, amounting to 
$153.70 in value. The bottle on the right-hand side, which is also 
actual size, shows the gold from one pan of dirt, and amounting to 
$300. Both pans of dirt came from Claim No. 5 above Discovery, 
Bonanza Creek, owned by Clarence J. Berry. 



26 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

will take with them to the mint from $10,000 to $500,000, 
the result either of working the ground or of selling out. 
The men who sold were paid almost entirely out of their 
own ground, the men who bought taking the dumps and 
these, when sluiced, paying for the claims and leaving a 
handsome margin for the purchasers. In some instances 
enough gold was rocked out to make a first payment on the 
claims before sluicing was possible. Many of these men, to 
my personal knowledge, had neither money nor credit to 
get 'grub' with last fall." 

LA DUE LAYS OUT TOWN OF DAWSON. 

In September Joseph Ladue laid out Dawson City, apply- 
ing for a town site patent on his claim. It is on the Yukon 
River, below the mouth of the Klondike, and fifteen miles 
below the Bonanza Creek mines. It had a population of 
3,500 in June, but has a much larger one now, as people 
from Juneau, Sitka, Forty-Mile and Circle City have gone 
into Dawson in large numbers, besides those who are on 
their way or have already reached there from different parts 
of the United States and Canada. 

Before the winter set in quite a large population had 
located in the Klondike district. The population increased 
faster than the supplies, and until the arrival of boats in the 
early spring short rations were the rule, and the prices for 
supplies were exceedingly high. Claims were prospected 
and partly worked, the method being to build^ fires on the 
spot to be excavated and, when the ground was thawed out 
for a foot or so, to dig it out and pile the "pay dirt" on the 




CLARENCE J. BERRY. 

With his partner he took out over $130,000 last season, and his clairr 
is not one-tenth worked. He also owns other rich claims. 



30 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

tial evidences of success in gold dust and nuggets. The 
"Excelsior" arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday, July 
15. The names of the returned miners with the amounts of 
gold they brought and the value of the claims they left be- 
hind them in the Klondike district are as follows: 

Brought from Value of 

Alaska. Claims. 

T. S. Lippy and wife $65,000 $1,000,000 

F. G. H. Bowker 90,000 500,000 

Joseph Ladue 50,000 500,000 

I. B. Hollinshed 25,000 

William Kulju 1 7,000 

James McMann 15,000 

Albert Galbraith 15,000 

Neil Macarthur 15,000 

Douglas Macarthur 15,000 

Bernard Anderson 14,000 35,000 

Robert Krook 14,000 20,000 

Fred Lendesser 1 3,000 

Alexander Orr 1 1,500 

John Marks 1 1 ,500 

Thomas Cook , . 10,000 25,000 

M. S. Norcross 10,000 

J. Ernmerger 10,000 

Con. Stamatin 8,250 

Albert Fox 5, 100 35,000 

Greg. Stewart 5, 000 20,000 

J. O. Hestwood 5>ooo 250,000 

Thomas Flack -...., 5,000 50,000 




JOSEPH LADUE. 

Long prominent on the Yukon. Founder of Dawson City. Has 
made a large fortune. 



32 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Louis B. Rhoads 5>ooo 35>ooo 

Fred Price 5,ooo 20,000 

Alaska Commercial Company 250,000 

Total, $439,000 

MRS. GAGE RETURNS. 

Two days later, on Friday, July 17, the steamer " Port- 
land" arrived at Seattle, with passengers and a ton and a half 
of gold. One of its passengers was Mrs. Eli Gage, a 
daughter-in-law of Lyman J. Gage, secretary of the treas- 
ury, whose husband is Auditor of the North American 
Transportation and Trading Company, and is located at Fort 
Cudahy, N.W.T., forty-three miles below Dawson City on 
the Yukon River. The other passengers ? who came from 
the Klondike, were: Clarence J. Berry and wife, Miss E. 
Nelson, Frank Phiscator, F. Miller, A. McKenzie, C. 
Anderson and wife, C. A. Branan, O. Finsted, H. Ander- 
son, W. Sloane, J. Johnson, C. E. Neyer, A. Gray, G. 
Worden, R. H. Blake, William Stanley, W. Sims, R. 
McNulty, J. Halterman, J. Anderson, J. Desroche, T. J. 
Kelly, V. Lord, F. Pellinger, J. E. Poucher, N. Mer- 
cer, F. Moran, J. Clements, H. Olsen, A. Proteau, 
H. Dore, M. Kelly, H. Granthier, M. Hall, B. F. Purcell, 
C. Silverlock, H. Coteland, J. Bergwin, F. Fabhr, J. 
Moffett, C. H. Loveland, Inspector Strickland and wife, 
Sergeant Hayne, Sergeant Engel, Corporal Newbrook, 
Constable Jenkins, Constable Telford, C. Encher, C. Ander- 
son, J. E. Fairburn, Miss P. Block, Miss E. Sedick and 
five steerage. 




FRANK PHISCATOR, OF BARODA, MICH. 

He went to the Klondike and made a fortune in a year. 



34 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

TO-DAY THEY ARE WEALTHY. 

"These men," said Captain Kidston, of the "Portland," 
"are every one what the Yukoners call 'Chee Chacoes' or 
newcomers, and up to last winter they had nothing. To-day 
you see them wealthy and happy. Why, on the fifteen days' 
trip from St. Michaels I never spent a pleasanter time in 
my life. These fortunate people felt so happy that any- 
thing would suffice for them, and I could not help contrast- 
ing them with the crowd of gold hunters I took with me on 
the last trip up. They were grumblers, without a cent in 
the world, and nothing on the boat was gcod enough for 
them. Some of these successful miners do not even own 
claims. They have been working for other men for $15 a 
day, and thus have accumulated small fortunes. Their aver- 
age on this boat is not less than $10,000 to the man, and 
the very smallest sack is $3,000. It is held by C. A. Branan, 
of Seattle, a happy young fellow just 18 years old. There 
is no country on earth like the Yukon." 

Considerable excitement about the Klondike had resulted 
from the stories told by the lucky passengers of the " Excel- 
sior," but when the much larger number that came by the 
"Portland" were heard from, bringing over $1,000,000 in 
gold dust and nuggets to add force to their statements, the 
gold fever broke out all over the country, and a rush has 
begun which will land in the Yukon valley all who can be 
carried there this summer, while thousands more will go in 
the spring of 1 



CHAPTER III. 
PIONEERS OF THE KLONDIKE. 



STORIES OF THOSE WHO WERE IN THE FIRST RUSH TO THE 
BONANZA DISTRICT. 

The facts in regard to the Klondike adventurers read like 
romances, but they agree so well and are so thoroughly for- 
tified by the large receipts of treasure that their truthfulness 
is not open to suspicion even. 

CLARENCE J. BERRY AND WIFE. 

Perhaps the most romantic story is that of Clarence J. 
Berry and his wife "the bride of the Klondike." Mr. 
Berry was a fruit raiser in Fresno County, California. He 
found it a hard task to make a living there. In 1894 he 
heard of gold finds in the Yukon region, in far-off Alaska. 
He had just $40 of his own and managed to borrow $60 
more on the promise of heavy interest. He went to Juneau, 
where he found a number of others who had arrived there 
with the view of crossing over the mountains. A party of 
forty was organized, among whom was Berry. It was early 
spring, when they started out each with a load of supplies 
and furs. Indians packed these to the top of the Chilkoot 
Pass. The winter journey in the mountains proved too 
much for many in the party and many gave up in despair 

35 



36 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



. 



and turned back. When the lakes were reached and boats 
built the water voyage was begun. The melted snow had 
swollen the streams, and in Lake Bennett the whole outfit 
of supplies went down. This discouraged all but three. 
Berry, with magnificent strength and a hero's courage, was 
one of the three who with meager supply of food pushed 
on, and after nearly a month's toilsome journey reached 
Forty-Mile Creek, penniless. He went to work for others 
and later for himself, with indifferent success, but acquired 
a faith in future fortune on the Yukon which made him 
determine to find it or die in the attempt. In the fall of 
1895 he concluded to return to Selma, Fresno County, where 
he had left a young woman who had promised to be his 
wife. When he returned he found Miss Ethel D. Bush 
prepared not only to redeem her promise but also to go with 
him and share his fortunes in the frozen North, although 
he pictured to her the hardships as well as the hopes that 
belonged to life in that region. In March, 1896, they were 
married, and in April the couple reached Juneau on their 
unique wedding trip. They had little capital, but two brave 
hearts. They went by boat to Dyea, the head of naviga- 
tion, and from there over the mountains by dog team. At 
night they slept under a tent on a bed of boughs. Mrs. 
Berry's garments resembled her husband's. They were 
made of seal fur with the fur inside, and came over her feet 
like old-fashioned sandals. Over them were pulled a pair 
of gum boots. Over her shoulders was a fur robe and hei 
hood was of bearskin. This all made a great weight of 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



37 



clothing, but she trudged by her husband's side, and in 
June, three months after they were married, they reached 
the camp at Forty-Mile Creek. There Berry worked until 
in September, 1896, he was told of McCormack's find up the 
Klondike. There was much excitement at "Forty-Mile" 
over the news, though the experienced miners for the most 
part ridiculed the idea that anything good would be found 
"over there on the Klondike." Berry, however, was one of 





WILLIAM M. STANLEY. 



GAGE WORDEN. 



These are two of a party of four who started to the Yukon in 
March, 1896. None of them knew anything about mining, but they 
own claims on Bonanza and El Dorado Creeks from which they took 
out $112,000 and have millions left in the mines. 

those who believed that something good had been found, and 
his wife helped him to get ready for his trip into the new dis- 
trict, Mrs. Berry remaining at Forty-Mile. Two days later, 
Berry was in the Bonanza district, where it had been decided 
that 500 feet on the river Bonanza Creek should constitute 
a claim. His location was " Claim No. 40 above the Dis- 



38 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

covery" — which means that thirty-nine 500-foot claims in- 
tervened between his ground and the original one staked 
out by George McCormack. 

ON EL DORADO CREEK. 

Soon Mrs. Berry went to Dawson City, which had just 
1 een started. Mr. Berry built a house, and was joined by 
his wife. He secured Claim No. 5 above the Discovery on 
El Dorado Creek and there found rich dirt varying from $2 
to the pan just below the surface to $50 to the pan on the 
bed rock. Mr. Berry hired men at $15 a day and from the 
$130,000 which he took out before he left he paid out 
$22,000 to his miners. He still owns his claims on the 
Bonanza and El Dorado, besides interests in many others, 
and has a fortune which will reach into the millions. Mrs. 
Berry will remain in Fresno, but Mr. Berry will return to 
manage his mines, which he left in good hands to be worked 
during his absence. Mr. Berry's El Dorado claim was one 
of the richest that had been worked on the creek during the 
winter and spring. The principal part of his $130,000 came 
from thirty "box-lengths " of dirt. A "box length" is fif- 
teen feet long and twelve feet wide. In one length he found 
a pocket of $10,000. In another length was a nugget 
weighing thirteen ounces — next to the largest found in the 
diggings. 

REFUSE WORK AT $1.25 pER HOUR. 

All winter men received $1.25 an hour on the Berry 
claim, but at these wages not a pick would have been raised 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 39 

had it not been for the fact that nothing can be done during 
the severe cold but pile the gravel on the dump ready for 
washing in the spring, and many of these men did not have 
enough food to keep them at this work on their own claims. 

Every day was pay day. Mr. Berry settled with his men 
every night merely by taking a pan of dirt, washing it out 
with water obtained from melted ice, and weighing out each 
man's time in gold nuggets. His expenses averaged from 
$100 to $150 a day all winter, but this was a small sum for 
a place whence every man expects to return home a million- 
aire, and w r here a man with less than $50 in his dust sack 
is looked upon as broke. 

Although Mr. Berry is proud of his plucky wife he did 
not give her a cent of "pin money" out of his riches while 
they were on the Klondike. He did not need to do so; for 
in the intervals of housekeeping she would go to the dump 
and wash out a few pans of dirt for herself. In this way 
she secured over $10,000 as her personal perquisites for 
sixteen months of a bridal "outing" in the frozen North- 
west. 

JOSEPH LADUE. 

One of the best known of the Klondikers is Joseph Ladue, 
the founder of Dawson, N. W. T., the new metropolis of 
the Yukon, at the mouth of the Klondike. 

He is forty-three years old, and lived, until 1882, at 
Schuyler Falls, Clinton County, New York, and was a farm 
hand, working for J. H. Lobdell, until he left and went to 
the Black Hills in search of gold. He met with consider- 



40 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

able success at first, but afterwards lost every dollar in a 
speculation in Deadwood. From there he went to the 
northwest, finally reaching Alaska. He was at Sixty-Mile 
for several years, running a saw mill and store there. It 
was a good investment, although Mr. Ladue found great 
difficulty in running it, because men preferred mining, even 
when he was paying his hands $15 per day. But his returns 
were proportionate to his expenses, as the cheapest lumber 
he ever sold brought $100 per thousand feet, and planed lum- 
ber double that sum. After the Klondike boom broke out 
the price of rough lumber went up to $150 per thousand, 
and the demand far exceeded the supply. 

No sooner had the richness of Bonanza and El Dorado 
creeks been indicated than Mr. Ladue laid out the town site 
of Dawson, entering the land under the Canadian laws, and 
having it surveyed into lots. The most eligibly located of 
these lots are now selling at $5,000 each and upward. Mr. 
Ladue has also become possessed of valuable mining inter- 
ests, and has already accumulated a substantial fortune. He 
came back on the "Excelsior" and went on a visit to Schuy- 
ler Falls, N. Y., as a guest of ]. H. Lobdell, his old em- 
ployer. 

When Mr. Ladue lived at Schuyler Falls he became 
engaged to Miss Anna Mason, the daughter of prosperous 
parents. The latter objected to his marriage because of his 
lack of means, and he went west; but the young woman 
remained faithful to him and correspondence was kept up. 
When Mr. Ladue returned to Schuyler Falls the prepara- 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



4 1 



tions for the wedding were at once inaugurated, and on July 
29 the two were united in marriage, and another romance 
was added to the story of the Klondike. 

FRANK PHISCATOR AND F. W. COBB. 

Two of the most fortunate of the Klondike miners are 
Frank Phiscator and F. W. Cobb. They are partners in 
the mines and were the first to locate on El Dorado Creek. 




JOSEPH LADUES SAW MILL. 

Frank Phiscator was a farmer's boy in Michigan, and 
was born at Baroda, in that state, thirty-five years ago. His 
father died, and Frank, tiring of the farm, went west, and 
got employment in Yellowstone Park, carrying horseback 
mail over a sixtv-mile route. Later he went to live in the 
state of Washington and there, by hard work and thrift, 
accumulated about $3,000. Then he went back to Michigan, 
but did not find the people there as cordial in manner as 
those he had left in the west, so he again turned his face 



42 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

toward the setting sun, and when he had reached Seattle he 
heard reports about mines on the Yukon which attracted 
him. He went there and struck up an acquaintance with 
F. W. Cobb, the two agreeing to share with each other. 
Then when McCormack located on the Bonanza, the two 
were with the first rush to the new field. 

F. W. Cobb was born in New England and was graduated 
from Harvard University. In 1894 ne went to Seattle, but 
times were fearfully hard, and he worked about, in various 
capacities, making no more than $7 a week. Finally he 
sent back east to his relatives for money and with it struck 
out for the Yukon, meeting up with Frank Phiscator at 
Forty-Mile and going with him to the Bonanza District. 

When they reached there Phiscator prospected on the 
Klondike above Bonanza, while Cobb went up the latter 
stream until he struck the branch to which he afterwards 
gave the name "El Dorado." 

STRUCK IT RICH. 

A little experimental panning of dirt convinced him that 
he had "struck it rich" and he located a claim of 1,000 
feet, being entitled by right of discovery to twice the usual 
allotment of ground. Then he hurried down the Bonanza 
and at its mouth found Phiscator returning, disconsolate, 
from a fruitless search for the yellow metal up the main 
stream. To him he communicated the news of his find, and 
the two returned to the El Dorado, where Phiscator located 
alongside his partner's discovery claim. 

The two have made fortunes. In the spring "clean-up" 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 43 

of their claims the first forty days brought Phiscator's share 
of the gold to $96,000, which he brought with him on the 
" Portland" to Seattle. He left Mr. Cobb in charge of the 
claims, but will return in the spring and let Cobb come 
"outside." They have millions in sight on their claims. 
The noteworthy thing about these two is that neither of 
them had any mining experience before they went to 
Alaska in 1896, and they made their fortunes in less than 
a year. 

THE STANLEYS AND WORDENS. 

Among the most wonderful stories of a sudden rise from 
poverty to affluence is that concerning the Stanleys and 
VVordens, who formed a company of four working in part- 
nership in the Klondike gold fields, consisting of William 
M. Stanley, his son Samuel, and the brothers Gage and 
Charles Worden. None of them had any previous mining 
experience. 

William M. Stanley is a gray-haired man, well along in 
years. He lived in an humble home in the southern part of 
Seattle with his wife and several children. He conducted 
a little book store in an out of the way corner of that city, 
but found it hard to make a living, for times were hard in 
Seattle as well as all other parts of the country from 1893 
to 1896. In March of the latter year Mr. Stanley got to- 
gether all the money he could, borrowed a little more from 
his son William, who was working elsewhere, and with his 
23-year-old son Samuel, started for the Yukon country on 
the steamer "Alki," from Seattle for Dyea. 



44 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

On the "Alki" the Stanleys met two young men, Charles 
and Gage Worden. They came from Sackett's Harbor, 
N.Y., to seek their fortunes in the west, but found nothing 
better to do than to work on a milk ranch at small pay. 
They, too, were on their way to the Yukon. 

The four men knew nothing about mining, and had even 
less real conception of the hardships of travel and living in 
the frozen mountains of the North. 

WENT OVER CHILKOOT PASS. 

Laboriously they toiled over the Chilkoot Pass route with 
their burdens, and after several weeks of wearisome and 
dangerous travel they reached the mouth of the Stewart 
River. The four had agreed to w T ork together and divide the 
proceeds of their joint venture. Up the Stewart they went 
and finally found a drift near the mouth of the McQueston 
Creek, an affluent of the Stewart. They built rockers and 
worked on the dirt in that vicinity, getting out from $10 to 
$20 per day. Soon the "pay" became less, and the party, 
after seeking for better locations for a time without success, 
started for Forty-Mile, and rested en route at Sixty-Mile 
(so called because the mourft of the river so named is about 
sixty miles above Fort Reliance). There they met a miner 
whom they had previously befriended, and who told them of 
the rumors of McCormack's great "find" on the Klondike. 
They reached the mouth of that stream and looked about 
for a favorable location. Next day the steamer "Ellis" 
arrived from Forty-Mile with one hundred and fifty excited 
miners aboard. The Stanleys and Wordens joined in the 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 45 

rush for the new diggings and on El Dorado Creek made 
locations on claims Xos. 25, 26, 53 and 54 above the Dis- 
covery Claim of F.W.Cobb. They began work on Claims 
25 and 26 and were soon satisfied that they had a good thing. 
They then went to work to prepare for a long winter of 
experience and hardships, and found all they wanted before 
spring. Thev built a log cabin and made it as snug as 
possible, and then all four put in their time sinking prospect 
holes in the gulch. The rest of the intensely interesting 
story is best told in the graphic description given by 
William Stanley after his arrival at Seattle on the "Port- 
land." 

" I tell the simple truth when I say that within three 
months we took from the two claims the sum of $112,000. 
A remarkable thing about our findings is that in taking this 
enormous sum, we did not drift up and down stream, nor 
did we cross-cut the pay streaks. 

"Of course, we may be wrong, but this is the way we 
are figuring, and we are so certain that what we say is 
true that we would not sell out for a million. In our judg- 
ment, based on close figuring, there are in the two claims we 
worked, and Claims Xos. 53 and 54, $1,000 to the lineal 
foot. I sav that in four claims we have at the very least 
$2,000,000, which can be taken out without any great 
work. 

PAY DIRT IN EVERY CREEK. 

" I want to say that I believe there is gold in every creek 
in Alaska. Certainlv on the Klondike the claims are not 



46 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

spotted. One seems to be as good as another. It's gold, 
gold, gold all over. It's yards wide and yards deep. I say 
so because I have been there and have the gold to show for 
it. All you have to do is to run a hole down, and there you 
find plenty of gold dust. I would say that our pans on the 
El Dorado claims will average $3, some go as high as $150, 
and believe me when I say that, in five pans, I have taken 
out as high as $750 and sometimes more. I did not pick 
the pans, but simply put them against my breast and scooped 
the dirt off the bed rock. 

"Of course, the majority of those on the Klondike have 
done much figuring as to the amount of gold the Klondike 
will yield. Many times we fellows figured on the prospects 
of the El Dorado. I would not hesitate much about guaran- 
teeing $21,000,000, and should not be surprised a bit if 
$25,000,000, or even $30,000,000, was taken out. 

" Some people will tell you that the Klondike is a marvel, 
and there will never be a discovery in Alaska which will 
compare with it. I don't believe it. I think that there 
will be a number of new creeks discovered that will make 
w r onderful yields. Why, Bear Gulch is just like El Dorado. 
Bear Gulch has a double bed rock. Many do not know it, 
but it's a fact, and miners who are acquainted with it will 
tell you the same thing. 

GOLD BLACK AS A CAT. 

" The bed rocks are three feet apart. In the lower bed the 
gold is as black as a black cat, and in the upper bed the gold 
is as bright as any you ever saw. We own No. 10 claim, 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 47 

below Discovery, on Bear Gulch, and also Nos. 20 and 21 
on Last Chance Gulch, above Discovery. We prospected 
for three miles on Last Chance Gulch, and could not tell the 
best place to locate the Discovery claim. The man making 
a discovery of the creek is entitled by law to stake a claim 




EXACT SIZE OF A NUGGET VALUED AT $231. 

and take an adjoining one, or, in other words, two claims; 
so you see he wants to get in a good location on the creek 
or gulch. Hunker Gulch is highly looked to. I think it 
will prove another great district, and some good strikes 
have also been made on Dominion Creek. Indian Creek 
is also becoming famous. 



48 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

"What are we doing with all the money we take out? 

"Well, we paid $45,000 spot cash for a half interest in 
Claim 32, El Dorado. We also loaned $5,000 each to four 
parties on El Dorado Creek, taking mortgages on their 
claims, so you see we are well secured. 

"No, I do not want any better security for my money 
than El Dorado claims, thank you. I only wish I had a 
mortgage on the whole creek. 

NO MORE POVERTY. 

"We had a great deal of trouble in securing labor in pros- 
pecting our properties. Old miners would not work for 
any price. We could occasionally rope in a greenhorn and 
get him to work for a few days at $15 a day. Six or eight 
miners worked on shares for us about six weeks, and we 
settled. It developed that they had earned in that length ,of 
time $5,300 each. That was pretty good pay, wasn't it? 
We paid one old miner $12 for three hours' work and 
offered to continue him at that rate, but he would not have 
it, and he went out to hunt a claim of his own. My son 
Samuel, and Charles Worden are in charge of our interests 
in Alaska. Gage Worden and I came out, and we will go 
back in March and relieve them. Then they will come out 
for a spell. Gage goes from here to his home in New York 
State to make his mother confortable. 

" I am an American by birth, but of Irish parents. I 
formerly lived in western Kansas, but my claim there was 
not quite as good as the one I staked out on the El Dorado 
Creek." 



___ — _ 



* 

VA V 



*'-Y 







50 the gold fields of the Klondike 

Mr. Stanley's family had a hard time getting along dur- 
ing the fifteen months the father and brother were away, 
but they will never know poverty from this time on. 

MR. AND MRS. LIPPY. 

Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Lippy, formerly of San Francisco, 
also came down on the "Excelsior." Mrs. Lippy went 
North with her husband in April, 1896, their destination 
being Forty-Mile, where Lippy and his brothers had a fine 
paying claim. She was one of the first white women to 
make the journey over the big divide and says she did not 
find the trip very difficult. Mrs. Lippy denied emphatically 
the stories of starvation in the mining districts of the far 
North. 

"We enjoyed life exceedingly at Forty-Mile," she said. 
"To be sure, our amusements are limited, but there are a 
number of women there now, and we try to make it as 
pleasant for each other as possible. Everybody is doing 
well. The story of suffering among the miners is news to 
me. I never saw nor heard of any suffering. We were 
skimped for some articles, but there was always plenty to 
eat. Everybody had a good supply of something, and if one 
ran out of bacon it was the customary thing to exchange 
with some neighbor who was short of flour or beans. That 
is the way we all did and we got along very comfortably." 

Mr. Lippy brought with him $60,000 in gold dust, and 
left claims in the Bonanza district worth $1,000,000. His 
brothers, whom he left in charge, have been equally for 
tunate. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 5 I 

This book could be filled with the stories of the return- 
ing miners. So far as the character of the diggings in 
the Klondike they all agree. These are certainly the most 
wonderful gold discoveries ever known. • 

MARVELOUS RICHES. 

Not only those who have returned, but also many who 
remain, testify to the marvelous riches of the country. The 
following characteristic letters were written from Dawson 
City to Juneau friend§. 

Burt Shuler, writing from Klondike under date of June 
5, says: 

"We have been here but a short time and we all have 
money. Provisions are much higher than they were two 
years ago and clothing is clean out of sight. One of the A. C. 
Co.'s boats was lost in the spring, and there will be a short- 
age of provisions again this fall. There is nothing that a 
man could eat or wear that he cannot get a good price for. 
First-class rubber boots are worth from an ounce to $25 a 
pair. The price of flour has been raised from $4 to $6 and 
it was selling at $50 when we arrived, as it was being 
freighted from Forty-Mile. Big money can be made by 
bringing a small outfit over the trail this fall. Wages have 
been $15 per day all winter, though a reduction to $10 

was attempted, but the miners quit work 

Here is a creek that is eighteen miles long, and as far as is 
known, without a miss. There are not enough men in the 
country to-day to work the claims. Several other creeks 
show equal promise, but very little work has been done on the 



52 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

latter. I have seen gold dust until it seems almost as cheap 
as sawdust. If you are coming in, come prepared to stay 
two years at least; bring plenty of clothing and good rubber 
boots." 

Here is a letter from another enthusiast: 

"Klondike, May 27, 1897. 
"Friend Bill: — 

"We landed here the 17th and went on a stampede the next 
day, and have just got back. I came through the camp and 
saw a good many friends. I saw Burt; he has a claim on 
Bonanza Creek. Billy Leake has bought a claim on El 
Dorado; the claim is supposed to be worth a million. 
There are thirty-four claims" on the same creek which seem 
to be as good. Bonanza is good, but not so rich. There 
are 100 claims on Bonanza which are good, and there are 
other creeks which give good pay. Bill, it is the best camp 
I ever saw. Wages are $15 a day; everything is high; 
gum boots are selling at $25. I look for a new strike this 
summer, as many men are out prospecting, and it is the 
best gold country I ever saw. I wish you were here; we 
will make a stake if we stay with it; I will have something 
before winter. If you come in this fall don't start after the 
15th of August; one can make more here in one year than 
he can in ten out there. There will be work the year 
round; wages may be cut to $10, but I don't think it; I can 
go to work at any time and as long as I wish for $15. It 
will pay to bring anything here which can be carried in ; 
the demand is good and prices such that there is money in 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 53 

anything that can be brought in. Money will hardly buy 
claims here now, but men can often get in on a 'lay.' I 
know men who took 'lays' since Feb. 1 and made enough to 
go out with as high as $20,000 apiece. 

"Andy Hensley." 
fears gold will have to be demonetized. 

Oscar Ashby fears that gold will have to be demonetized, 
for he says in a letter dated May 18 from Circle City: 

"Hereafter address all letters to Klondike, X. W. Terri- 
tory. I would have stayed here in Alaska, but when I heard 
of McKinley's election I pulled my freight, for I knew 
that meant gold. I tell you one thing, if they find a few 
more El Dorado and Bonanza creeks, they will have to 
demonetize gold. Some of the kings here are hurrying out 
to spend their money before that is done. However, I am 
going to take chances on mine." 

CIRCLE CITY DESERTED. 

Another letter says : 

"Circle City is deserted, every one having gone to Klon- 
dike, where the richest strike of the kind ever known in 
anv country was made last fall. The stories told are not 
exaggerated. One hundred dollars to the pan is very com- 
mon. One can hardly believe it, but it is true, nevertheless. 

" El Dorado is staked off into claims for eight or ten 
miles, and every claim so far has shown up big. One claim 
was sold for $100,000 three days ago. Bonanza is good 
also, and two or three other gulches close by show up well. 
Every camp in the Yukon valley is deserted for Klondike. 



54 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Wages there are $15, while $12 is the prevailing rate here. 
No one wants to work for wages, but all are prospecting. 
This is undoubtedly the best poor man's country in the 
world to-day. A very hard country to live in on account 
of the mosquitoes and poor grub, but healthy and a show 
to make a ten-strike. We heard that McCollough, formerly 
of the Juneau Hotel, had been drowned while shooting the 
W 7 hite Horse Rapids; don't know whether there is any 
truth in it, as he was behind us. A number of parties 
were swamped and lost their outfits, but escaped with their 
lives. The trip is anything but one of pleasure, as you 
will find if you ever make it. 

"Fred Brewster Pay." 



CHAPTER IV. 
JOSEPH LADUE'S STORY. 



THE KLONDIKE STRIKE DESCRIBED BY THE OWNER OF 

DAWSON. 

The true story of the Klondike has never been fully told, 
not because the history of this eventful strike was not pre- 
served, but because there were few men present at its birth. 
I mean by that, few men who went into the region with 
the real discoverers. 

For fifteen years I traded throughout that entire section, 
and coupled with my town to town commerce a saw mill 
industry, and I have no doubt that many others were equally 
familiar with the territory. But it remained for a man 
from Nova Scotia, a Robert Henderson, to turn over the 
dirt that led to the opening up of what I and others con- 
sider the most marvellous mineral discovery in the world. 
I will begin with Henderson's discovery and carry the 
reader right through the excitement up to the very popula- 
tion of Dawson, a town which now has 4,000 souls, mili- 
tary protection and forty families of men, women and 
children. 

FINDS GOLD IN GOLD BOTTOM. 

It was on the 24th of August when Henderson, who had 
been prospecting for four years in Indian Creek, a tribu- 

56 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 57 

tary of the Yukon, found himself in another little stream 
bed known as Gold Bottom, near the Yukon, the high 
water having driven him out of Indian Creek. He was 
prospecting around, hoping to find something as good as 
the ground seemed to contain. After a time he panned out 
a little gold and put in a sluice box or two. In a very 
short time he ran out of supplies and went back to Fort 
Ogilvie, where I was stationed, and reported the find to 
me. I lost no time getting myself in readiness to proceed 
to the spot at once, and by the 28th of August I had two 
men and four horses in Gold Bottom. In the meantime 
Henderson drifted down to the mouth of the Klondike in a 
small boat, and found George McCormack, an old friend of 
his, who was fishing for salmon. Hunting up his friends 
when there was anything in sight seemed to be one of Hen- 
derson's best traits. He got McCormack up to Gold Bot- 
tom, where he located a claim, prospected around a while, 
and started back across country for the mouth of the Klon- 
dike River, a distance of twenty miles. 

That trip was destined to play an important part in the 
events which followed, for through it occurred one of the 
big finds. McCormack took with him two Chilkat In- 
dians, and the three men went off in the direction of Bo- 
nanza Creek, where the white man struck gravel that went 
$2.50 to the pan. According to our mining laws in Can- 
adian possessions, the discoverer can locate an extra claim 
for himself as a reward for making the find. So McCor- 
mack took up two locations and the Indians one each. Thev 



58 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

set to work at once and took out $120 in gold in three days 
with little else than a pan. Then they came down to Fort 
Ogilvie and reported the find. 

THE RUSH FOR THE MINES. 

That report which was spread by McCormack, had the 
immediate effect of sending a thrill of excitement along the 
Yukon, from the head-waters down to Forty-Mile and Cir- 
cle City. As though by magic, the trails were sprinkled 
with pack mules, and the river was dotted with small craft 
coming up or going down to the new diggings, as the case 
may be. In less than ten days there were about 150 miners 
at work on new claims. 

Strangely enough, and as if by some great good fortune, 
I had come down the river about the same time McCormack 
left Gold Bottom, and had picked out a town site where 
Dawson City now stands, a little more than a mile from the 
Bonanza Creek claims. In this respect I was very fortu- 
nate, as it now stands right in the midst of what is called 
Bonanza Gold Mining District, and all claims are so re- 
corded. As a matter of fact there is no other suitable place 
for a town site, and I consider myself lucky in getting hold 
of it. I hold 178 acres, while the remaining twenty-two are 
the property of the Government. The Yukon at that point 
is 600 yards across and about thirty-five fathoms deep, with 
natural advantages for protection of craft. Dawson City is 
just below the mouth of the Klondike River. I named it 
after Dawson, the man who established the boundary line 
that is now recognized as the correct line dividing Alaska 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



59 



from the Northwest Territory. It runs due north from 
Mount St. Elias to Point Demarcation to the 141st meridian. 
That, of course, cuts all the present locations, with the ex- 
ception of those at Forty-Mile, out of United States possess- 
ions. There is no cause for dispute on that score at all. It 




aft. 

This is a nugget imbedded in a pebble. It is valued at $157, and 
came from El Dorado Creek. The white indicates gold, and the two 
pictures show the upper and under sides, actual size. 

is purely a Canadian section, aud is under the Canadian 

laws. 

TRICKERY OF GREED. 

Just as soon as the rush began at Bonanza Creek the 



60 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

miners called a meeting, and in order that the claims be 
relocated and made sure of, it was decided to measure them 
all off with a rope and reset the stakes that defined them. 
Somehow or other the men selected to make the measure- 
ments slid in a forty instead of a fifty foot rope, and thus 
made the claims from fifty to one hundred feet short in the 
total. In other words, they were condensed, and the 
intervening ground was literally grabbed. This state of 
affairs incensed the miners so that when they made the 
discovery of how the measurements were conducted, they 
petitioned William Ogilvie, the Dominion Land Surveyor, 
to come up to Bonanza Creek at once and settle the com- 
plications that were arising. He resurveyed the whole 
group of claims and the matter was then adjusted to the 
satisfaction of all hands. But even now some of them are 
a little short. The custom in taking up placer claims is 
to locate 500 feet the way the valley lies, and then run 
across from base to the base of the foothills. In the 
Bonanza Creek it is 800 feet to the base lines. 

The Dominion Land Surveyor is also a magistrate, 
and has the power to take sworn testimony, which he 
did in the case of the false measurements. The men 
who had engaged in the work, both of playing short rope 
and shifting stakes, a crime punishable by seven years in 
the penitentiary, told all they knew, and clemency was 
shown them, owing to their greatly excited condition at 
the time. None of them was prosecuted. 

WOMEN PICK UP GOLD. 

It is not my purpose to unduly inflame venturesome 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 6l 

men to go into the Klondike regions, but what really oc- 
curred there, having seen it with my own eyes, I shall 
forthwith record in this story. 

On November 20 Thomas Flack, William Sloan and a 
man by the name of Wilkinson sunk a hole eighteen feet 
deep in El Dorado Creek, and struck a four-foot pay streak 
that went $5 to the pan, or $2.50 to the shovelful. This 
was not for a short time, but for weeks and weeks. They 
shovelled out ton after ton of dirt that was literally filled 
with gold and did not know it. The news of the new 
strike was spread out all over the Northwest, and not only 
prospectors but practical mining men came to the diggings. 
Some capitalists saw the Flack mine, and bought out his 
partners, Sloan and Wilkinson, for $50,000 each, but Flack 
would not sell, which proved his sense, as the men who 
purchased his partners' interest got over $50,000 each out 
of the dump that the trio had discarded before they struck 
the pay streak at the 18-foot level. 

There were very few practical miners there at first, but 
they soon began to flock in and take hold. Each day 
brought news of other marvellously rich strikes. The ex- 
citement grew by the hour. Not a moment was lost in the 
accumulation of the precious metal ? and even women began 
to move toward El Dorado. The Yukon had completely 
frozen up and three steamers — the Weare, the Bella and the 
Arctic— were fast in the ice. That, however, did not deter 
the passengers, as they came along on sledges and snow- 
shoes. It was anything to get there with them. Two 
ladies, Mrs. Lippy, whose husband now has a claim valued 



62 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

at $1,000,000, and Mrs. Berry, picked out of a dump $6,- 
000 each a few days after their arrival. They found the 
metal by poking around in the dirt with sticks. I cite this 
instance to show how much valuable material was discarded 
in the wild rush for Bonanzas. The basic principles of 
placer mining were in many instances utterly ignored, and 
men delved in the earth for nothing short of nuggets. It 
was the most exciting scene I have ever witnessed or read 
about. 

$95,000 IN ONE MONTH. 

When the big strike was made in El Dorado the men 
down at Bonanza Creek became very much dissatisfied with 
gravel that went from 60 cents to $1.60 a pan, when, as a 
matter of fact, 5 cents a pan is considered good anywhere 
else and will pay well in the clean-up. 

The finding of a nugget would almost drive the prospect- 
ors crazy. The largest was picked up by Bert Hudson on 
Claim 6, and was worth $257. The next best was secured 
by J. J. Clements in Indian Creek, and went $235. There 
are two hundred claims in El Dorado Creek, and not one of 
them has failed to produce large returns. In the Bonanza 
there are thirty-nine claims, and they, too, are wonderfully 
rich, and constantly improving. There is four and a half 
miles of pay gravel in one streak, and from all indications 
more to come. 

$94,000 FROM A FORTY-FOOT PATCH. 

A miner by the name of Alex MacDonald took out $94,- 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



63 



000 from a forty-foot patch of ground only two feet thick. 
He employed four men to do the work and consumed but 
twenty -eight days. That gravel went $250 to the pan, and 
was in Claim No. 30, El Dorado Creek. 




THE TREASURE SHIP "PORTLAND." 

Different men have cleaned up from $175,000 to $50,000 
in fine gold, and all of it was done during three months of 
the past winter. Out of El Dorado alone came $4,000,000, 
and at least $1,000,000 from Bonanza Creek. How much 
more there is in it is impossible to say, but to all appear- 
ances the whole district is full of gold waiting to be taken 
out. 



64 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

When the ice began to melt this summer another rush be- 
gan. Forty-Mile City and Circle City were depopulated 
last winter, and the new rush came from the South, Seattle, 
Juneau and all the states. Steamer after steamer has left 
the Pacific coast bound for the mines, but for the life of me 
I do not know where they are to get supplies. All the 
boats now obtainable by the Alaska Commercial Company 
are worked to their fullest capacity, and it takes thirty-five 
days in good weather to get to Dawson from San Francisco. 

Now that I have touched the subject of transportation I 
may as well go deeper into it. There seems to be a general 
belief that anybody can go up to El Dorado and pick up a 
hatful of gold any time. Perhaps there was a chance to 
do that at first, but since then the mines have filled up with 
practical, scientific mining men, and nothing is lying around 
loose. The nearest point to get supplies at anything like 
civilization rates is Juneau, but beyond that city is a stretch 
of territory that an inexperienced man had best avoid, and 
particularly at this season of the year. 

I have been careful not to exaggerate in the least bit, and 
I hope some day to see the region of the Klondike a thriv- 
ing mining and commercial center, but I trust no one will 
be foolhardy enough to attempt the trip now. If you must 
go, follow my advice and do not start 'until the 15th of 
March, and then go by way of Seattle to Juneau or Dyea, 
w r alk overland thirty miles to the headwaters of the Yukon 
and sail from there 400 miles down stream to the city of 
Dawson, which by this time next year will have 20,000 peo- 
ple and be able to care for them. 

Joseph Ladue. 




Copyrighted, La Koohe, Photo, Seattle. 



CREVASSE IN MUIR GLACIER. 

DEPTH OVER 200 FEET. 



CHAPTER V. 
OFFICIAL REPORTS. 



HIGH AUTHORITY CONFIRMS THE RICHNESS OF THE 
KLONDIKE STRIKE. 

The news from official sources in regard to the Klondike 
discoveries is fully as sensational in character as that given 
by the returning miners. 

No man living has a closer acquaintance with that region 
than William Ogilvie, Dominion Surveyor and Chief of 
Internal Boundary Survey, who, with a field force, has been 
in the Northwest Territory for over ten years, definitely 
locating the line of 141 ° west longitude, which forms the 
boundary line dividing Alaska from the British North- 
west Territory. He is a man highly respected in the 
far northern country, where, in addition to his official duties, 
he is often called upon to settle mining questions as an arbi- 
trator whose fairness is beyond dispute. Mr. Ogilvie, 
since the Klondike discoveries, has made an official report 
in which he says : 

"The name Klondike is a mispronunciation of the Indian 
word or words 'Thron-dak' or 'duick,' which means plenty 
of fish, from the fact that it is a famous salmon stream. It 
is marked 'Ton-dak' on our maps." 

After telling of the discovery of gold there in 1896 by G. 

65 



66 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

W. McCormack, Mr. Ogilvie presages considerable trouble 
and confusion in the near future from the lack of system in 
making out claims. He says : "When it was fairly estab- 
lished that Bonanza Creek was rich in gold — which took a 
few days, for Klondike had been prospected several times 
with no encouraging results— there was a great rush from 
all over the country adjacent to Forty-Mile. The town was 
almost deserted; men who had been in a chronic state of 
drunkenness for weeks were pitched into boats as ballast 
and taken up to stake themselves a claim, and claims were 
staked by men for their friends who were not in the country 
at the time. All this gave rise to much connection and con- 
fusion, there being no one to take charge of matters. The 
agent not being able to go up and attend to the thing, and 
myself not knowing what to do, the miners held a meeting 
and appointed one of themselves to measure off and stake the 
claims and record the owners' names, for which he got a fee 
of $2.00, it being of course understood that each claimholder 
would have to record his claim with the Dominion agent 
and pay his fee of $15. I am afraid that a state of affairs 
will develop in the Klondike district that will worry some 
one. Naturally, many squabbles will arise out of those 
transactions when the claims come to be considered valuable 
and worked, and those, together with the disputes over the 
the size of the claims, will take some time to clear off. 
Many of the claims are said to be only 300 and 400 feet long, 
and of course the holders will insist on getting the full 500, 
and it is now probably impossible that they can without up- 
setting all the claimholders on the several creeks. Many of 




MILES CANON, LEWIS RIVER. 



68 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

them will be reasonable enough to see things in their proper 
light and submit quietly, but many will insist upon what 
they call their rights." 

RICHES OF THE KLONDIKE FIELDS. 

In reference to the richness of the Klondike field, Mr. 
Ogilvie says that the rich fields in that district, such as 
Miller, Glacier and Chicken creeks, have been practically 
abandoned for the Klondike. Men cannot be got to work 
for love or money, and the standard of wages is $1.50 an 
hour. Some of the claims are so rich that every night a 
few pans of dirt is sufficient to pay all the hired help. 

Mr. Ogilvie complains sorely of the need of some kind 
of a court to settle the various claim disputes that are con- 
tinually arising between the miners. He says that the 
force and virtue of the miners' meetings prevailed until the 
mounted police made their appearance, after which sneaks 
had full swing. 

The morality of the Klondike would seem to be of a much 
higher order than is usually found in new mining camps, 
the presence of the mounted police seeming to have a most 
salutary effect. Mr. Ogilvie seems to regret it, for he says^ 

4 'The man who was stabbed here in November has quite 
recovered, but may never have the same use of his back as 
of old, having received a bad cut there. His assailant is 
out on bail, awaiting the entrance of a judge to try him. 
As the police are here, there will be no lynching; it is al- 
most a pity there will not." 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 69 

THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 

Mr. Ogilvie takes up the subject of the liquor traffic also, 
saving: "The impression of the best men here, saloon men 
and all, is that the liquor trade should be regulated, that no 
one but responsible parties should be allowed to bring 
liquor in; men in business here of established reputation 
and having an interest in the country and the retail traffic, 
licensed as in the Eastern provinces, giving licenses to men 
of fair character only. Now any loafer who can gather 
enough money to secure a few gallons and a few glasses 
and wants to have an idle time, sets up a saloon. In my 
opinion it is imperative that the business be brought under 
control at once, or it may develop phases that will be at 
least annoying in the future." 

Mr. Ogilvie announces the location of a quartz lode show- 
ing free gold in paying quantities along one of the creeks. 
The quartz has tested over $100 a ton. The lode appears 
to run from three to eight feet in thickness, and is about 19 
miles from the Yukon River. Good quartz has been found 
also at the head of a branch of the Alsek River near the 
head of the Chilkat Inlet, inside the summit of the coast 
range in Canadian territory; also along Davis Creek in 
American territory. The hills around Bonanza Creek also 
contain paying quartz. Copper in abundance is found on 
the southerly branch of the White River, and silver ore has 
been picked up in a creek flowing into Bennett Lake. Mr. 
Ogilvie says that the placer prospects continue to be more 
and more encouraging and extraordinary. 



70 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

"It is beyond a doubt," he says, "that three pans of dif- 
ferent claims on El Dorado turned out $204, $212 and $216, 
but it must be borne in mind that there were only three 
such pans, though there are many running from $10 to $50." 
Governor McIntosh. 

The executive of Northwest Territory, in which the 
whole of the Canadian Yukon country is located, is Governor 
H. C. Mcintosh. Speaking of the discoveries in the 
Klondike region, he said in a newspaper interview: 

"We are only on the threshold of the greatest discovery 
ever made. Gold has been piling up in all these innumer- 
able streams for hundreds of years. Much of the territory 
the foot of man has never trod. It would hardly be possible 
for one to exaggerate the richness, not only of the Klondike, 
but other districts in the Canadian Yukon. At the same 
time the folly of thousands rushing in there without proper 
means of subsistence and utter ignorance of geographical 
conditions of the country should be kept ever in mind. 

GOLDEN WATERWAYS. 

"There are fully 9,000 miles of these golden waterways 
in the region of the Yukon. Rivers, creeks and streams of 
every size and description are all rich in gold. I derived 
this knowledge from many old Hudson Bay explorers, who 
assured me that they considered the gold next to inexhaust- 
ible. 

"In 1S94 I made a report to Sir John Thompson, then 
premier of Canada, who died the same year, at Windsor 
Castle, strongly urging that a body of Canadian police be 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 7 I 

established on the river to maintain order. This was done 
in 1S95, am * tne British outpost of Fort Cudahy was 
founded. 

"I have known gold to exist there since 1889, conse- 
quently upon a report made to me by William Ogilvie, the 
government explorer. Many streams that will no doubt 
prove to be as rich as the Klondike have not been explored 
or prospected. Among these 1 might mention Dominion 
Creek, Hootalinqua River, Stewart River, Liard River and 
a score of other streams comparatively unknown. 

"It is my judgment and opinion that the 1897 yield of 
the Canadian Yukon will exceed $10,000,000 in gold. Of 
course, as in case of the Carriboo and Cassiar districts years 
ago, it will be impossible accurately to estimate the full 
amount taken out. 

"There is now far in excess of $1,000,000 remaining 
already mined on the Klondike. It is in valises, tin cans 
and lying loose in saloons, but just as sacredly guarded 
there and apparently as safe as if it were in a vault. Already 
this spring we have official knowledge of over $2,000,000 
in gold having been taken from the Klondike camps. It 
was shipped out on the steamships Excelsior and Portland. 

" Incidentally I may say we have data of an official nature 
which leads us to believe that the gold output of the Ross- 
land and Kootenai districts for 1897 will be in excess of 
$7,000,000. I should have said, and I have no hesitancy 
in asserting, that within the course of five years the gold 
yield of the three districts named will exceed that of either 
Colorado, California or South Africa." 



CHAPTER VI. 
THE YUKON REGION. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT GOLD FIELDS 

DISTRICT. 

The great central district of Alaska and the western por- 
tion of the British Northwest Territory are drained by one 
of the largest streams on the American Continent. It is 
over 2,200 miles long, of which distance about 1,500 miles 
is in Alaska and the remainder in British America, the 
dividing line between the two being the 141st degree of 
longitude west from the Greenwich meridian. 

The portion of the region which is in United States ter- 
ritory formed the Sixth Census District in the U. S. Cen- 
sus for 1890. Up to that time the whole region was prin- 
cipally known to fur traders, although a few miners had 
gone in previously for about six years. The settlements, 
according to the census, were 58. Of the total population of 
3,912 there were 2,099 ma les and 1,813 females; 2,082 
natives and 1,830 foreign. Racially distinguished, there 
were 202 whites, of whom 193 were male and 9 female ; 127 
mixed breed, of whom 59 were male and 68 female; and 
3,583 Indian, of whom there were males 1,847 anc * females 

] >73 6 - 

These figures of seven years ago do not give much indi- 
cation in regard to present conditions of population. Since 

73 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 73 

then many prospectors and miners have gone into the 
country, and the whites now outnumber the Indians in that 
region. 

YUKON KNOWN BY OTHER NAMES. 

The great Yukon River is not known by that name for 
its entire length. The Pelly and Lewis Rivers, both large 
streams, unite, and at their confluence in British territory, 
about longitude 1 37 ° 30' west, form the Yukon. 

The Lewis River is the better known of these two 
streams, from the fact that since 18S4 it has been used as a 
highway from southeastern Alaska to the Yukon gold 
fields. Its length, from Lake Lindermann, one of its chief 
sources, to the junction with the Pelly, is about 375 miles, 
and it lies entirely within British territory with the excep- 
tion of a few miles of the lakes at its head. 

The Pelly River takes its rise about Dease Lake, near the 
headwaters of the Stikine River, with a length of about 500 
miles before joining the Lewis to form the Yukon River. 
The union of these streams forms a river varying from 
three fourths of a mile to a mile in width. For many 
miles there is on the northern bank a solid wall of lava, 
compelling the swift current to follow a westerly course in 
search of an outlet to the north. The southern bank is 
comparatively low, formed of sandy alluvial soil. Then 
the mouth of the White River is reached, that river, which 
comes in from the south, receiving its name from the milky 
color of its water. Then the stream takes a northerly course 
through a rugged, mountainous country, and a short dis- 



74 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

tance further on the waters of Stewart River flow from the 
north into the Yukon. At a high stage of water the cur- 
rent is quite swift at this point, flowing six or seven miles 
an hour. From Stewart River to the mouth of the Klon- 
dike both banks are closed in by high mountains, formed 
chiefly of basaltic rock and slaty shale. Many of the 
bluffs are cut and worn into most picturesque shapes by 
glacial action. At the mouth of the Klondike above the 
confluence on the right bank is an Indian village, and after 
the river is passed there is a government reservation on the 
right side going down. On the left bank, or near it, is a 
quartz mine, belonging to Captain Healy of the North 
American Trading and Transportation Co., or rather to his 
wife. 

DAWSON CITY, THE METROPOLIS. 

A little lower down, on the right bank of the stream, is 
Dawson City, the present metropolis of the Yukon, laid out 
by Joseph Ladue in September, 1896, and to-day the liveliest 
frontier town on the American continent. A few miles be- 
low is Fort Reliance, which was the first place settled by 
whites in this region, having been used by the Hudson Bay 
Company as a fur trading post for several years, but after- 
ward abandoned. There is no town there now, but the lo- 
cation is important because many points through the Yukon 
country were named by roughly guessing their distance 
above or below Fort Reliance. Thus, Sixty-Mile Creek 
empties into the Yukon about sixty (really fifty-three) miles 
above, and Forty-Mile Creek about forty (forty-eight) miles 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



75 



below Fort Reliance, and the stream which flows into the 
Yukon from the north and is marked on most of the maps 
"Clandindu River" is locally known as "Twelve-Mile 
Creek," being calculated from the same starting point. 
From Dawson City the course of the river is northwesterly 
past Fort Cudahy and Forty-Mile, where for several years 
there has been a considerable amount of successful placer 




ONE OF THE FIRST HOUSES IN DAWSON CITY. 

mining carried on. The next point of importance is Circle 
City, where there is a post office. This town was started 
about five years ago and was the chief center of mining ac- 
tivity on the Yukon, being the trading point for the Creek 
District, the most productive mining district ever worked, 
so far, in the United States portion of the Yukon country, 



j6 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

For the first 100 miles after crossing the boundary the river 
runs in one broad stream, confined on either side by high 
banks and a mountainous country, known as the "Upper 
Ramparts." It then widens out and for 150 miles is a net- 
work of channels and small islands. At old Fort Yukon, 
an abandoned Hudson Bay post, the river reaches its high- 
est northern latitude, being within the Arctic Circle. From 
main bank to bank the distance has been found to be seven 
miles, at a point just above the site of old Fort Yukon. This 
place is the most serious obstacle to navigation that is met 
with on the river from its mouth to the Five Fingers Rap- 
ids near Fort Selkirk, as the channel at this point shifts 
from year to year, and at certain stages of the year is diffi 
cult to find. 

BELOW FORT YUKON. 

Below Fort Yukon the country flattens out considerably 
and the majestic grandeur that one encounters from Circle 
City up to the headwaters is seen no more. There are 
occasional mountains, and some of the streams which rise in 
them and feed the Tanana and other tributaries of the 
Yukon are known to contain gold. At the mouth of the 
Tanana is Fort Weare, a trading station of the North 
American Transportation and Trading Company, and 
named after its president. Away from the Yukon, sixty or 
seventy miles northward in the Arctic Circle, are mountain 
streams upon which gold has been found, on the Koyukuk 
River and its tributaries. About ten miles below the 
Tanana there is a quartz claim, but from there westward 



The gold fields of the Klondike 



77 



there has been no gold discovery. The points on the lower 
river are mostly trading- posts, where the trade in furs is 
carried on. There is a large business done with the natives 
in skins, and prices are regulated by the standard price of 
red fox or marten — called one skin — about $1.25. A prime 




WMmr 




MC QUESTEN'S STORE AT CIRCLE CITY, ALASKA. 



beaver would be "two skins;" black bear, "four skins;" 
lynx "one skin;" land otter two or three skins, etc. Five 
yards drilling, or 1 lb. tea, or 1 lb. powder, or % lb. powder 
with 1 box caps and 1 lb. shot, are given for one skin ; 50 
lbs. flour, four skins; 5 lbs. sugar, one skin, etc. These 
are samples of the prices obtained by the natives, with little 
variation, until the mining district is reached, when the 
prices are higher, to conform to the prices charged to miners. 



^8 the gold fields of the Klondike 

TIMBER AND VEGETATION. 

On the lower Yukon, for many miles, the banks are de- 
void of timber, other than a stunted growth of willow brushy 
alder and cottonwood. Then spruce timber is encountered 
in the region of Hamilton's Landing, and from there to its 
headwaters the river is well supplied with spruce, fir, hem- 
lock, birch, alder and cottonwood timber. Spruce attains 
to considerable size, but it is full of knots and blemishes 
and makes poor lumber 

One of the most noticeable features of the vegetation of 
the Yukon region is the great variety of berries to be found 
all through the country. Among them, growing wild, and 
often in great profusion, are high and low bush cranberries, 
blueberries, salmon berries or dewberries, red currants and 
raspberries. The salmon berries are especially plentiful in 
the swampy lands of the lower Yukon, where they are 
gathered by the natives in large quantities. 

AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES. 

The shortness of the summer season in the interior of 
Alaska and the British Northwest Territory will always 
preclude any great amount of agricultural cultivation. Yet, 
as is shown by' its productiveness in wild berries, the short 
summer season brings vegetation to maturity with great 
rapidity. As soon as the snow disappears in the spring 
there is a sudden and quick productiveness in all kinds of 
herbage. Isolated experiments with different kinds of veg- 
etables have not been numerous, but they have been, to a 
large extent, successful. When the sun is shining every 



T11K GOLfo FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 79 

day for t went) -four hours it accomplishes great results in a 
very short season. On the coast numerous successful at- 
tempts at agriculture have been made on a small scale. Po- 
tatoes have done well at all points on the river, although 
they do not grow to any great size; and barley has been 
successfully cultivated at Forty-Mile, and even at Fort 
Yukon, away up in the Arctic Circle. On the Stikine River 
in the Northwest Territory oats and wheat have also been 
successfully grown. The attempts at cultivation have all 
been made in a desultory and unscientific manner, and the 
people of Alaska have long desired the establishing of ag- 
ricultural experimental stations by the government, both in 
the interior and on the coast. The expressed intention of the 
agricultural department to at once establish such stations 
gives hope that much good will be done by intelligent ex- 
periments in crops adapted to the rigorous climate. 

There are numerous plains and open spaces, not only on 
the coast but also in the interior, which are covered with 
the arctic or tundra moss, suitable for reindeer grazing, and 
this food is so widely and plentifully distributed as to make 
the introduction of reindeer to the Yukon region, now 
going on, a matter of great importance to the country. The 
interior has an abundance of nutritious grasses suitable for 
the feeding of domestic animals, but the winter has here- 
tofore been found too severe to make the keeping of horses 
and cattle a possibility. 

Alaska is a great country for wild game, but during 
recent years the amount of game to be procured in the 
immediate neighborhood of the main Yukon has steadily 



80 THE GOLD FIELDS OE THE KLONDIKE 

decreased. Up the tributary rivers, however, game is more 
abundant. 

FUR ANIMALS OF YUKON VALLEY. 

Like all countries in high latitudes, the fur-bearing ani- 
mals are an especially important feature in the fauna of the 
Yukon region. The land otter, the brown, grizzly, silver- 
tip and black bears, the beavers (once very common but 
now diminishing greatly in numbers), the beautiful silver 
or black fox, the red fox, cross fox, and, on the coast, the 
white fox, are among the most valuable of the fur animals. 

The mink is common, and the Peshoo or Canadian lynx, 
gray and white wolves, muskrats, wolverines, rabbits, 
marmots and others combine to make the list of the fur 
animals of the Yukon Valley very complete. Among them 
the brown grizzly, silver-tip and brown bears are the most 
formidable. Grizzly bears are only occasionally met, and 
the silver-tip bear is not numerous. The brown bear makes 
its way to the mountains about the time spring opens, and 
fishes for salmon, a sport in which it is a great adept. 
About that time the Yukon Indians are engaged in the same 
occupation, for drying salmon is an important industry with 
them. If Mr. Bear and Mr. Indian meet at this time the 
latter generally prefers to retire, for the brown bear is very 
fierce and his skin is not very valuable. The brown bear 
retires to the tundra or mossy plains after the fishing season. 
This bear, in his travels, usually finds the best traveling 
ground and the shallowest fords, and therefore his well trod 
paths become the favorite roads with travelers through the 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 8i 

Yukon country. The black bear is also good at fishing and 
is a permanent resident of the wooded and mountain regions ; 
but is by no means to be dreaded to such an extent as his 
brown relative. 

The Klondike River and its tributaries were at first best 
known to the miners of the Yukon as being infested with 
bears, and a general dislike to ursine society is said to have 
made prospecting up the Klondike unpopular. If it had not 
been for the bears, the Bonanza and El Dorado finds might 
have been made several years ago. 

Moose, caribou, deer, mountain sheep, and mountain 
goats are found in the mountains. There are very few if 
any of these near the river, and one may make the entire 
trip up to the Klondike from Lake Lindermann without 
getting a chance to shoot large game. 

BIRDS ABUNDANT ON THE YUKON. 

One of the things that will amaze the observant though 
unscientific new arrival on the Yukon is the great variety 
of birds he will see during the brief summer season. The 
snowbirds, and winter wrens and other winter birds of the 
United States live in Alaska in the summer, and not 
only they but nearly all of the birds which pass through the 
United States on their way northward. Of the more than 
sixty species of the family of American Warblers which are 
seen in the northern United States when the cherry and 
apple trees are in bloom, fully half pass on by easy stages 
so as to reach the Yukon country with the warm weather. 
In fact this northern region is their birthplace, and it is here, 



82 THE COLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

therefore, that their nests are built, their nuptial melodies 
are sung and their prettiest plumage displayed. The gros- 
beaks, bobolinks, and a very large number of other favorite 
American birds, utilize the Yukon region as a summer 
resort, giving beauty and melody to the surroundings. 
Humming-birds are especially numerous and the brief 
Alaska summer brings an influx of bird species which is a 
delight to the ornithologist. 

The bald and gray eagles, so plentiful on the Alaskan 
coast, are also occasionally seen in the interior. Ducks, 
geese, and other water fowl breed in all of the waters of the 
Yukon region, and in favorable places may be found in 
great numbers. 

FISH IN THE YUKON. 

Fish are abundant — not only the salt water varieties on 
the coast, but also the fresh water fish of the interior. The 
greatest of these is salmon, which abounds on nearly all the 
streams, and on none to a greater extent than the Klondike, 
the very name of which is a mispronunciation of the Indian 
words " thron-dak" or "much fish." 

Both hunting and fishing are, how r ever, principally rele- 
gated to the Indians, as the miner, seeking to make his 
fortune and return to his home in the States, has little time 
to spare and must keep busy if he would attain his ends. 



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CHAPTER Vlt 
YUKON GOLD COUNTRY, 



MINING DEVELOPMENTS IN ALASKA AND NORTHWEST 
TERRITORY. 

All over Alaska are mineral resources of value. Down in 
the southeast portion of the territory, on Douglas Island, 
opposite Juneau, there is located the great Treadwell mine. 
It is a well developed property in which the tunnels and 
drifts show that it is between 300 and 400 feet between the 
hanging wall and foot wall, the space between being quartz 
carrying free gold and sulphurets averaging $8 to the ton. 
This is low grade ore, and to make it pay it is necessary 
that it be worked on a large scale, with modern machinery. 
The extent of the deposit, assuring millions of product, 
justified large expenditures, and the company owning the 
Treadwell mine has established on Douglas Island the 
largest quartz mill in the world. It operates 240 stamps 
and never stops, night or day, summer or winter, except 
for repairs. There are a number of other quartz ledges in 
numerous places in the southeastern part of Alaska, includ- 
ing the Sheep Creek region, where are silver, gold and 
other metals ; Salmon creek, near Juneau, silver and gold ; 
Silver Bow Basin, gold; Fuhter Bay, Admiralty Island; 
Silver Bay district, near Sitka, gold and silver; Besner's 

84 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 85 

Bay, Lynn Canal, as well as Fish River on Norton Sound, 
Unga district, and Lemon Creek, all gold districts. 

LITTLE PROSPECTING FOR QUARTZ. 

The working of quartz mines in Alaska has practically 
been confined to coast localities where labor can be had at 
reasonable rates and supplies and machinery can be procured 
with comparative ease. In the Yukon region there has 
been, so far, little prospecting for quartz. The miners who 
have gone there are mostly men of small means, looking for 
gold which they can dig themselves and wash out by means 
of pan or sluice-box. The time for prospecting is short. 
Unless one has means it is necessary to find "pay dirt" 
which will yield at least a "grub stake" before winter, or 
else go to work for wages. If one should find a quartz vein 
it would be necessary to do the surface prospecting on the 
ledge before winter set in. Then, if the vein did not turn 
out to be very rich and the ore high grade, it would not pay 
to import expensive machinery at heavy freight rates and 
pay the present high wages. 

Of course every miner expects that the largest fortunes 
on the Yukon, in the future, will come out of quartz mining, 
because where there is so much placer gold there must be a 
great " mother lode" somewhere, yet every man is now 
looking for a "poor man's mine" which requires only 
strength, industry and perseverance to yield either a modest 
or large fortune. 

Outside of the Yukon region there are seven other placer 
districts, all located on streams flowing near the coast, The 



86 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Yukon region, however, has been the center of the Alaskan 
miners' hope for some years past. 

THE YUKON MINING DISTRICTS. 

It is an interesting fact that the first Yukon tributary to 
attract the attention of gold seekers was Stewart River, 
which is now looked upon as one of the most favorable 
prospecting regions. It was in 1883 that the first work was 
done there, and the following year brought quite a number 
of miners to the spot. The work done there was practi- 
cally confined to the bars formed near the mouth by the 
spring freshets. These yielded thousands of dollars, before 
the discoveries at other points attracted the miners from the 
Stewart region. The mouth of the Stewart River is about 
seventy-five miles above Dawson City. Its various 
tributaries have been little prospected prior to the present 
year; but doubtless many of those who have been unable to 
get locations on the Klondike will try the Stewart, unless 
the rapacity of the Canadian mining regulations should 
drive the bulk of the prospecting to the American tributaries 
of the Yukon, which may likely occur. 

THE PELLY RIVER. 

Another stream which had something of a mining boom 
several years ago is the Pelly River, which also made good 
returns to prospectors on its bars. Little gulch mining was 
attempted on the creeks and streamlets emptying into the 
Pelly, but the entire region of the Yukon from Teslin Lake 
to the Xanana is known to be auriferous. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 87 

SIXTY-MILE CREEK. 

Sixty-Mile Creek and its tributaries Miller and Glacier 
Creeks are streams in which a considerable amount of mining 
has been done, although the settlement at Sixty-Mile Post, 
which is on an island at the mouth of Sixty-Mile Creek, 
never became very large. Its principal industry was the 
cutting of lumber to be rafted down to the more important 
camps below, the small steam sawmill being owned by 
Joseph Ladue, now widely famous as the owner of Dawson 
Citv. The logs are rafted down stream to the mill from the 
timbered regions near and below Fort Selkirk. 

FORTY-MILE. 

Forty Mile was long the chief town of the Upper Yukon. 
In the old Hudson's Bay trading days, when furs rather 
than gold were the magnet that drew white men to the 
Yukon, all the streams that were named at all were desig- 
nated as so many miles from the trading post at Fort Reli- 
ance. In 1888 the number of miners on Forty-Mile Creek 
and its tributaries became sufficiently great to cause the 
Alaska Commercial Company to establish on the east side 
of the mouth of the creek their station, called after the 
river " Forty-Mile," placing it in charge of Mr. "Jack" 
McQuesten, who is known to everybody in the Yukon 
valley and who conducts stores both at Forty-Mile and 
Circle City. 

FORT CUDAHY. 

Westward of the creek about three quarters of a mile and 
fronting on the Yukon is the station of the North American 



88 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Transportation and Trading Company, known as Fort 
Cudahy, so named after Mr. John Cudahy, the well known 
Chicago packer, who is a director of the company. 

Forty-Mile and its tributaries have been mined with a 
considerable degree of success for ten years, but the town 
lost some of its population about 1893 in the rush to the 
Birch Creek mines. Even since that it has remained 
an important point, although it has been almost depopulated 
by the recent rush to the Klondike. The valuable mines of 
the Forty-Mile district will continue to be worked, however, 
and the stations at the mouth of the creek remain impor- 
tant supply points. 

CIRCLE CITY AND BIRCH CREEK DISTRICT. 

Circle City is the recently dethroned metropolis of the 
Yukon mining regions. It gained its prominence in 1893, 
when the richness of the Birch Creek region became known. 
It is not, like the other stations on the Upper Yukon, at 
the mouth of a tributary stream. The mouth of Birch 
Creek is about two hundred and twenty miles below Circle 
City, its course being almost parallel with the Yukon. 

At Circle City the portage from the Yukon to Birch 
Creek is only eight miles, so that Circle City is the trading 
point for the Birch Creek Mining District, and both the 
Alaska Commercial Company and the North American 
Transportation and Trading Company have stores 
located here. The eight miles of portage for goods 
from the town to the Creek makes the cost of pro- 
visions very high in the Birch Creek mining camps, 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



8 9 



There are a few horses at Circle City which pack 
provisions to the camps forty to seventy miles away, 
but the carriage costs $45 per 100 lbs. for the greater dis- 
tance. Some miners carry their goods or have them 
packed over by Indians the eight miles to Birch Creek. 
But if this is done one has to pole up stream for from forty 




RAFTING THROUGH THE ICE ON THE YUKON. 

to seventy miles, making several portages around rapids, 
and at the head of canoe navigation to carry the provisions 
several miles up the particular tributary upon which the 
claim he is working is located. There are several of these 
tributaries, of which Mastodon, Molymute and Eagle Creek 
have turned out a very large amount of gold, and several 
good claims have also been partly worked on Boulder, In- 



90 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

dependence, Greenhorn, Deadwood, Mammoth, and Harri- 
son Creeks. 

The Birch Creek District is the most important, so far 
developed, on the United States side of the Alaska boundary. 
The Forty-Mile Creek district is partly on the United States 
side and partly in Canadian territory, the creek emptying 
into the Yukon on the British side. 

WHITE RIVER. 

The headwaters of White River are somewhere in the 
Mt. Elias group of mountains, and the meager reports of 
those who have been over the ground indicate that these 
headwaters and tributaries are gold-bearing. The best road 
to that region is by the Burton's trail route over Chilcat 
Pass, but it has been little traveled, and no one except ex- 
perienced mountaineers who go in a party with a first-class 
equipment should attempt to make the trip. Going up 
White River from its mouth is also a troublesome journey, 
as the current is very swift. 

TANANA RIVER. 

The Tanana River, which enters the Yukon at Weare, is 
another very large stream, wholly in American territory, 
which will doubtless attract the attention of explorers. Some 
few parties have made excursions up that river, but the 
natives are said to be somewhat ill disposed toward white 
intrusion, and the exploration should be well organized to 
be successful. A few bars on the lower banks of the Tanana 
have been worked, and have produced gold in paying quati- 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 91 

tities, and the prospect is good, therefore, for good placer 
locations to be found in paying quantities. 

The Kovukuk River and its tributaries have also been 
prospected with good results. Speaking in general terms, 
it may be said that all of the streams entering the Lewis 
and Yukon Rivers, from the Hootalinqua down to Hamilton's 
Landing, show evidences of gold in paving quantities being 
distributed throughout the interior of Alaska. It is not too 
much to claim that Alaska, so far as present knowledge 
exists, has more extensive and richer placer deposits than 
anv other section of the world, and those who know the 
country best will be greatly disappointed if the output of the 
Yukon mines during the next ten years does not exceed that 
of California in its palmiest days. 

THE KLONDIKE DISTRICT. 

The latest discoveries in placer mines in the Yukon 
region have set the continent in a flame of excitement. Not 
only those to whom the digging of gold from the ground 
has an aspect of romance and unreality, but also those 
whose knowledge of mines is practical and intimate, are so 
overwhelmed by the tangible and indisputable evidence as 
to admit that nothing in the history of mining has ever 
equaled the events on the Klondike during the past year. 
My own acquaintance with mining covers a third of a cen- 
tury, beginning with a toilsome and perilous trip to the 
Echuca diggings in Australia in 1S64, but after all these 
years, during which I have been in many mining districts 
all over the world, I am free to confess that the Klondike 



92 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

discoveries outclass all of the great gold strikes I ever knew 
or heard of. 

The narrative of the finding of gold on Bonanza and El 
Dorado Creeks has been already told, up to the time that the 
returning miners brought news of the great discoveries that 
had been made. It now remains to describe the mines in 
what is popularly known as "the Klondike District." It 
may be well to say, however, that there are no mines on the 
Klondike, so far as known. That river is too large and deep 
to be worked as a placer mine. There may be, and probably 
are, bars on the main river that will yield fine gold, but the 
great mines of which we hear so much are on the tribu- 
taries of that stream. The Bonanza and its tributaries, 
especially the El Dorado, are known to be of surpassing 
richness. Estimates placed upon individual claims by their 
owners have been given and much tangible proof offered, 
but the statements of Mr. William Ogiivie, Dominion Sur 
veyor in charge of the boundary survey, are, if anything, 
still more astounding. In an official report from Dawson 
City in regard to the district, he says: "The extent of the 
gold-bearing section here is such as to warrant the assertion 
that we have here a district which will give 1,000 claims 
of 500 feet in length each. Now 1,000 such claims will 
require at least 3,000 men to work them properly, and, as 
wages for working in the mines are from $8 to $10 a day, 
without board, we have every reason to assume that 
this part of our territory will within a year or two contain 
10,000 souls at least, for the news has gone out to the coast 
and an unprecedented influx is expected next spring. And 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



9-1 




PROSPECTING ON ONE OF THE TRIBUTARIES OF THE 
KLONDIKE. , 

his is not all, for a large creek called Indian Creek joins 
the Yukon about midway between Klondike and the Stewart 
River, and all along this creek good pay dirt has been found. 
All that has stood in the way of working it heretofore 
has been the scarcity of pro\ isions and the difficulty of 
getting them up there even when here. Indian Creek is 
quite a large stream, and it is probable it will yield 500 or 
600 claims. Further south yet lies the head of the several 
branches of Stewart River, on which some prospecting has 



94 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

been done this summer and good indications found, but 
the want of provisions prevented development. 

" Since my last the prospects on Bonanza Creek and tribu- 
taries are increasing in richness and extent, until now it is 
certain millions will be taken out of the district in the next 
few years. On some of the claims prospected the pay dirt is 
of great extent and very rich. One man told me yesterday 
that he washed out a single pan of dirt on one of the claims 
on Bonanza Creek and found $14.25 in it. Of course, that 
may be an exceptionally rich pan, but $5 to $7 per pan is 
the average on that claim, it is reported, with five feet pay 
dirt and the width yet undetermined, but known to be 
thirty feet; even at that figure the result at nine to ten pans 
to the cubic foot, and 500 feet long, is $4,000,000 at $5 
per pan. One-fourth of this would be enormous. Enough 
prospecting has been done to . show that there are at least 
fifteen miles of this extraordinary richness, and the indica- 
tions are that we will have three or four times that extent, 
if not all equal to the above, at least very rich." 

Since this report was written there have been a large 
number of other creeks and branches located, including a 
number of gulches tributary to Hunker Creek, and its 
branch, Gold-bottom Creek. Indian Creek or River, which 
Hows into the Yukon from the east thirty miles above 
Dawson, has also been located, its tributaries, including 
Quartz Creek and Dominion Creek, both having had their 
discovery claims located in June of the present year. 

The Indians have claimed that further up the Klondike 
than Hunker Creek there was a creek where there was "too 



The gold fields of the Klondike 95 

much gold," meaning that it was richer than the Bonanza 
or El Dorado. About thirty-eight miles from the mouth 
of the Klondike a creek has been found which its discoverers 
have named " Too Much Gold Creek," and this has also 
been taken up in claims. Of course it may turn out that 
these other creeks may not prove to be profitable, but so far 
as heard from all of them prospect well, and every report 
that comes tends to increase the probability of rich returns 
from this famous district. 

The Klondike River, which heads in the Rocky 
Mountains, is said to be about one hundred and 
fifty miles long, and is a bold and rapid stream. 
Bonanza Creek empties into the Klondike about one 
and one-half miles up from the mouth. It is twenty- 
five miles long, and heads at the Dome, a large, bold 
mountain, in which a number of smaller creeks have their 
source. El Dorado, which is seven miles long, is a tributary 
of Bonanza, the confluence being twelve miles above the 
mouth of the latter stream. The latest reports show that the 
"pay" on Bonanza is good from the 6o's below the point of 
discovery, where one claim has 20 and 25 cent dirt, with 
the pay 125 feet wide, up to forty-three above, claim No. 
41 being very rich. Gold on Bonanza is finer than that on 
El Dorado. There is not a blank up to No. 38, and there 
are some good claims above that number. The richest claims 
are in the middle of the gulch, the gold there being 
coarse, with lots of nuggets. This, with the fractions 
of claims, makes nearly twenty miles of paying ground. 

In addition there are a number of side gulches on which 



96 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 




A CACHE ON THE YUKON. 

good prospects have been discovered. Bonanza district, it 
is estimated, is likely to produce not less than $50,ooo,coo 
in gold, and this is believed to be an underestimate than 
otherwise. Hunker Creek empties into the Klondike twelve 
miles up and is twenty miles long. In places $2 and $3 to 
the pan on bedrock have been found, and the indications are 
that it will prove a rich-paying creek. Gold Bottom, a 
fork, and Last Chance, a side gulch, show up equally well for 
a considerable distance. These comprise, with Bear Creek, 
which comes into the Klondike between Bonanza and Hun- 
ker, the extent of territory of which anything certain is 
known. Quartz creek and Indian creek are reached from 
the heads of Bonanza and Hunker and they have also some 
prospects. The country rock is slate and mica schist. 
Many of the nuggets are full of quartz. Iron rock is found 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



97 



with them, and pieces of stratified rock containing iron are 
found showing plainly on their sides the matrices of gold 
nuggets. Some fair gold-bearing quartz has been dis- 
covered, but no rich, free gold-bearing rock in place. The 
mineral belt seems to run northeast and southwest, if one 
may judge from the creeks, and to be about ten miles wide. 
It seems to parallel the main range of mountains about ioo 
miles distant from it. 







CHAPTER VIII. 
HOW TO GET THERE. 



WHO SHOULD GO AND HOW THEY MUST OUTFIT AND 

TRAVEL. 

While there is no question that vast riches are in the 
ground in the Yukon country, it must be remembered that 
this wealth can only be procured at the end of a long,tedious 
journey, that the steamboat route by St. Michaels and up 
the Yukon is only practicable for about ten weeks of the 
year; that the usual overland route is beset by dangers 
which may well appall any but the stoutest hearts, and will 
tax even the strongest and sturdiest constitutions, and that 
dangers with strong chances of death are ever present over 
a considerable portion of the trip. 

It should further be remembered that in the great multi- 
tude of gold seekers who are flocking to the Yukon disap- 
pointment must come to many. There is a very large ele 
ment of chance in all placer mining, and even in the richest 
mining districts the blanks are many. 

At the end of the journey, even under the best circum- 
stances, are many discomforts. For nine months the com- 
munity, whether it numbers three thousand or thirty thou- 
sand, will be absolutely cut off from every source of food 
supply, except that which it has in its own hands, and the 

9 8 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



99 



provisions on hand in September will have to last until 
June. If the supply is adequate, the danger will be reduced 
to a minimum, but if it falls short starvation — or at least 
great privation — must come to many. 

The great rush which has been made will severely tax 
the meager capacity of the two trading companies to supply. 
Those who go should be prepared with a year's provisions, 
at least. 




AT CIRCLE CITY. 

Those who go should remember that placer mining, es- 
pecially on the Yukon, is very hard labor. How hard will 
be explained in another part of this book. It consists of 
hard, continuous digging in frozen ground for the greater 
part of the year, and equally hard work shoveling, panning, 
etc., during the remaining months. The only variation 
from this is intervals of house building, carrying wood for 
fuel, cooking, etc. 



IOO THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

If you are a professional man your training will do you 
no good- An ounce of physical culture is worth ten pounds 
of classical or scientific training so far as placer mining is 
concerned. A knowledge of carpentering will come handy 
for one's personal benefit, but not as a means of employ- 
ment, for nearly every man who goes there will build his 
own house. Other mechanical trades will avail little ex- 
cept as they have trained the muscle. 

EXPERIENCED MINER HAS SLIGHT ADVANTAGE. 

On the other hand the experienced miner has only a slight 
advantage. It is of course true that experience is a good 
thing in mining as in other avocations, and in quartz min- 
ing is an absolute necessity, but the whole history of placer 
mining is full of illustrations of the fact that the novice— 
the "tenderfoot" as they say in the west, or the "new 
chum," as he used to be called in the Australian mines — is 
just as likely to find the richest pay as is the old and griz- 
zled prospector who has been in the forefront of every gold 
rush from Hangtown to Klondike. The experienced miner, 
other things being equal, will get at results somewhat 
quicker than the raw hand, but then there is no avocation 
in which experience comes quicker, or in more solid chunks, 
than in placer mining. 

The requisites, then, are a sound body, a strong and will- 
ing arm, and a brave heart. Add to these industry and 
perseverance, temperance and a cool head, and a man is 
well equipped for the journey and the life at the end. 

The weaklings, the timid, the easily discouraged and 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 1 01 

roysterers would do well to stay at home. In such a climate 
as the Klondike, with the conditions of life that are there, 
only the fittest will survive the inevitable struggle with the 
forces of nature. 

GO PREPARED. 

One should go there prepared to fight it out with fortune 
for two, three or five years. Some women have gone there 
and stood the ordeal as well as men, but unless at the call of 
duty, as a helpmeet to a husband, or something out of the 
ordinary way, it is better for a woman to stay away. 

Those who go for pleasure will find that they have gone 
to the wrong place. Life on the Yukon is a hard experi- 
ence at the very best. 

THE TRIP BY SEA. 

If the gold seeker goes by either of the transportation 
lines to St. Michaels and thence up the Yukon he will save 
himself many inconveniences. It is a not unpleasant trip, 
unless one is seasick, and the dangers are onlv those of 
navigation, which are not many. Going by this route, the 
ordinary fare from Seattle or San Francisco is $150. One 
is allowed to carry free 150 pounds of baggage, but no pro- 
visions. The companies will, however, agree to furnish 
one with provisions for one year for $400. Therefore for 
$550, plus the fare to Seattle or San Francisco, one may be 
relieved from the difficulties about getting to the Klondike 
and food after he arrives. 

Yet there is an outfit to get. One cannot go so far toward 
the North Pole without clothes — very heavy clothing for 



102 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

winter. What is needed will be discussed when we get to 
the overland journey. If one goes on the early boat so as 
to get there when navigation opens he will need summer as 
well as winter clothes. It is quite warm up there for two 
months. 

NO PLACE FOR STARCHED SHIRTS. 

There are many things one can just as well leave behind 
— starched shirts, for instance, and all kinds of gewgaws. 
The summer season is short, but the daylight is continuous. 
If we are going to mine we must first find our claim. How 
we go about it will be explained later. When it is found 
we have to work on it sufficiently to see if it will justify us 
in putting in our winter's work on it. If so, we have a 
house to build and to make tight and warm for winter, wood 
to bring and a lot more of very hard work which only calls 
for working clothes. 

WINTER APPAREL. 

For winter the nearer we approach the Siwash or the 
Eskimo in our outside apparel the better off we will be. In 
making preparations, therefore, use and not appearance 
should be the controlling consideration. 

After leaving Seattle, San Francisco or Portland a 
straight shoot is made for Dutch Harbor, on the island of 
Unalaska. This island is the most important of the Aleu- 
tian chain, and was the earliest seat of Russian dominion 
in Northwest America. The island is mountainous and the 
higher eminences are snow-capped, but below the snow- 
line everything is of a beautiful green appearance. Dutch 



104 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Harbor is on an island in an enclosed bay, and here there is 
a supply station of the company which owns the sealing 
privilege of the Pribilof Islands, as well as of the steam- 
ship companies engaged in the Yukon trade, and the fleets 
of whaling vessels also use the harbor as a base of supplies. 
This place, about 2,000 miles from Seattle, is the first stop 
made by the steamer. The stop is very brief and the jour- 
ney is then renewed northward through Bering Sea to St. 
Michaels Island. You will notice by the map that you 
have passed the mouth of the Yukon about sixty miles, but 
this seems to be unavoidable, because the delta lands of the 
Yukon are so badly overflowed during the high waters of 
the first half of the navigation season that no suitable place 
for a station can be found at any point nearer than St. 
Michaels. It was known as Michaelovsky in the days of 
Russian domination, and was founded by the Russians in 
1835. They were cordially welcomed at that time by the 
natives, the Mahlemoots, who had two villages known 
respectively as Tahcik and Agahbak, near which the Rus- 
sians built a fort. The two native villages were depopu- 
lated by smallpox in 1842. 

DESCRIPTION OF ST. MICHAELS. 

The town is an irregularly built collection of old Russian 
buildings mixed in with the warehouses of the companies 
doing business on the river, and those of some independent 
traders. Altogether the white population numbers about 
fifty, and there are also several hundred Innuits or Eskimos 
who are resident upon the island. The island is treeless, 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 1 05 

but is quite green during the summer season, and its rolling 
surface reminds one of some of the prairie regions of the 
western states. Across the narrow estuary rise several 
conical hills, formerly volcanoes, but long retired from 
active business. 

It does not get so cold at St. Michaels as in the interior. 
The average temperature, according to observation, is as 
follows : 

January — 5 May 3 2 «8° September .43.3° 

February.... — 6° June 45. 2 October. ... 28. o° 

March 9.5 July 53. i° November . 18.3 

April 22.1 August 5 2 > l ° December.. 8.9 

The season of regular snowfall begins at St. Michaels 
about October 1, and by October 20 ice has formed at the 
mouth of the Yukon. Navigation ends before October, 
however, because the freeze begins earlier on the upper 
river, and the mouth is closed tight by about the first of 
November and remains fast sealed until about the fifth of 
June, when the ice begins to break up. In ten days more 
the river is agfain clear for navigation. The sea about St. 
Michaels is usually covered by sludgy floes as early as the 
middle or end of October, and these open and close irregu- 
larly until the next June. 

FORT GET THERE. 

Near the town proper is the station of the North Amer- 
ican Transportation and Trading Company, to which they 
have given the distinctively American name of "Fort Get 
There." 



I06 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

When you get to St. Michaels you will perhaps find a 
boat waiting to take you along up the Yukon. Perhaps 
you will have to wait for it. When it comes you will get 
aboard and start back southward until the mouth of the 
Yukon is reached. Then the trip is made up the river, at 
first through a flat country, then through one interspersed 
with mountains. There are Indian villages here and there 
along the lower river, where all the inhabitants seem to be 
engaged in drying salmon. When you first get on board 
your Yukon steamer you think you will like some of this 
fish. They gratify you on board by giving you plenty of 
it. Next meal, more salmon, and so on until you are 
salmon-hungry no more. However, you will fare well on 
these steamers, considering the distance you are from 
civilization. In the general description of the Yukon region 
we have told you of the places you will pass on the river. 
In the stretch between Weare, at the mouth of the Tanana, 
and Circle City, you are surprised at the vast number of 
islands, large and small, that dot the stream, which is through 
this long distance very wide — at some points as much as 
seven miles. You begin to wonder how many of these 
islands there are, until somebody suggests forty or fifty 
thousand. You are willing to let it go at that, and then 
fall to wondering how the captain, or pilot, or whoever it is 
that has charge of the steering directions, can ever find the 
somewhat uncertain and somewhat shifting channel. That 
is, you do these things, and some others, if you are coming 
up late in the season. If you are on the first boat that comes 
up in June you do not have time for anything trivial. The 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



107 



one serious business in life is fighting mosquitoes, gnats 
and their kindred, and listening to the yarns of the old-time 
Yukoner (whom you would just then like to strangle), as he 
tells you how much worse they are higher up, where, he 
informs you, "you have to chop your way through 'em with 
an axe." This is one of the things you have to endure, in 
summer, on the Yukon. 




TRADING POST, FORT SELKIRK. 

Above Circle City you will have some magnificent 
mountain scenery to admire, grand upheavals that are sublime 
in their rugged beauty. When you get to Dawson you will 
congratulate yourself upon having reached it without trouble. 

That is, of course, if you get there. If one does not leave 
Seattle until the last steamer it is quite possible that he will 
have to spend the winter at some place en route. The com- 
pany can not, and will not, guarantee to get their passengers 
to Dawson City so late in the season, although they try, of 
course, to do so, and time the steamer's departure with that 



108 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

end in view. But any misadventure causing delay, or an 
early winter season, will prevent them from making the trip 
through. Doubtless the companies will increase their carry- 
ing capacity by the summer of 1898. 

CLOTHING FOR THE TRIP AND MINES. 

Some of the things that one needs in making the overland 
journey will not be required if the trip is made by sea, and 
if one has arranged his food supply with the transportation 
company of course the load will be lightened. 

However one goes, however, he will require a good outfit 
of clothing, all of the useful order. Two suits of stout 
clothing such as corduroy or the stoutest jeans, or one 
jacket and two pairs of pants ; about three pairs of heavy 
wool socks and three of ordinary socks ; two pairs of 
banket-lined mittens; two pairs of rubber boots and a can 
of rubber cement to repair them with if they crack; two 
or three pairs of shoes, both stout and one pair extra heavy, 
five or six yards of mosquito netting of the best quality; 
one or two caps; sou'wester cap, rubber coat for summer; 
three suits heavy underwear; three or four heavy woolen 
shirts, a sweater, two summer negligee shirts, two rough 
towels, and a cartridge belt. 

Take along a bachelor's sewing outfit, needles, thread, 
pair of scissors, piece of beeswax, shirt buttons, "hand- 
snap" trousers buttons, etc. 

You will want a shaving outfit. . You may think you do 
not, but if you ever have your beard frozen into a solid 
icicle you will change your mind. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE IO9 

For the more severe winter weather fur garments are 
desirable, in fact essential for comfort. These can be bought 
in Juneau if the demand has not swamped the supply. There 
are water. boots, made of seal and walrus skins, and winter 
or dry weather boots made of various kinds of furs. 
Trousers are made of various kinds of skin, principally 
that of the marmot, or Siberian ground squirrel. 



A most important and characteristic garment is the "par- 
ka," or upper garment made of marmot and muskrat skins 
or tanned reindeer hides, with enormous winter hoods or 
collars of dog-hair, fox-fur, or, still better, trimmed with the 
long hair of the wolverine or glutton. This "parka" has 
sleeves and compasses the body of the wearer without an 
opening before or behind from his neck to his feet. His 
head is thrust through an aperture left for it; and it has a 
puckering-string which draws it snugly around the neck. 
This is a favorite and in fact universal winter garment with 
the Innuits or Eskimos of the coast, the most esteemed kind 
being made of alder-bark-tanned reindeer-skin for winter 
use, with the hair worn inside. The wolverine trimming 
of the hood is much favored by white residents of the Yukon 
country, the hair, which is five or six inches long, being use- 
ful in protecting the face without obscuring the vision. A 
well made parka will cost from $25 to $100 according to 
the material, but it is practically cold-proof. Less expen- 
sive fur garments can be procured, but will not afford as 
much protection as the native garment. 



IIO THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Besides the blankets, fur robes will be found very accept- 
able as a part of the winter bedding outfit. The Chilcat 
blankets of goat wool used to be famous, but those that the 
Chilcat Indians sell to-day are for the greater part base imi- 
tations. 

Of course, not every one who goes to the Yukon will 
have the same outfit of clothing, but all should go prepared 
for an arctic winter. 

Do not forget a pair of snow glasses, made of blue or 
green glass, which will be a preventive against snow 
blindness. 

Oilskin bags, to hold provisions likely to be injured by 
water, are also very useful. 

A fur-lined canvas sleeping bag is a most valuable addi- 
tion to the outfit. 

TOOLS, UTENSILS AND OUTFIT. 

Those going by the overland route will need not only a 
miner's, but also a woodman's, boatman's and boat- 
builder's outfit. These can be made as extensive as desired, 
but it should be remembered that they all have to be carried, 
either by their owner or by Indians at ruinous rates. 

A large whip-saw, small hand-saw, draw-knife, pocket 
knife, pocket rule, small hunting-knife, hatchet, chisel, axe, 
about six pounds of assorted nails (wire nails two and four 
inches long are most needed), brace and bit, five pounds of 
pitch, three pounds oakum, a calking-iron, and about fifty 
feet of ^-inch rope and some sail canvas is about the mini- 
mum outfit. If the party consists of three or four a few more 



112 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

tools, such as a jack-plane and an additional saw or hatchet, 
will be found useful. So might an adze, but, as before 
stated, economy in weight is a very important feature where 
portages over steep trails have to be made, even after the 
Chilcoot pass has been scaled. 

CAMP EQUIPAGE. 

The camp equipage should consist of a tent (the size of 
which should be accommodated to that of the party, but 
it should be snug), a frying pan, baking pan, granite kettle, 
bread pan, coffee pot, granite plate and cup, large mixing 
spoon, and a knife, fork and spoon for each of the party. A 
small sheet iron stove with three telescopic lengths of pipe 
should be included in the outfit. Fishing tackle (trout line 
and hooks) will pay for the taking. 

A pick, shovel and pan will do to start with as far as pros- 
pecting is concerned. 

A good Winchester rifle with reloading tools and a hundred 
rounds of ammunition, with a cartridge belt, is a very 
useful part of the outfit. Game is not very plenti- 
ful along the main traveled route, but an occasional 
shot at fresh meat may be procured. When the journey's 
end is reached the rifle will help out the larder to a consid- 
erable extent. 

PROVISIONS FOR A YEAR. 

The greatest of all dangers to the man who ventures into 
the Yukon mining regions is that he may find the food 
supply scarce. Even if he has money he may not be able to 
buy enough to eat. The amount of food getting into the 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



' 1 3 




THE TREASURE STEAMSHIP EXCELSIOR AND J. F. HIGGINS, 
HER CAPTAIN. 

district before everything freezes up limits the supply 
until the next June. If many go in without food supplies 
they will have to depend upon buying at exorbitant rates, 
and if the stock is exhausted before summer comes they 
will have to go without. The only safe way is to take a 
year's supply of food along. This will, of course, vary 
with the individual, but the appetite is sure to be good, and 
the stock should be something like this: 

500 lbs. flour, 100 lbs. corn meal, 50 lbs. oatmeal, 150 lbs. 
beans, 25 lbs. coffee, 12 lbs. Jtea, 10 lbs. salt, 75 lbs. sugar, 



114 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

ioo lbs. assorted evaporated fruits, good supply of evaporated 
vegetables, 40 lbs. dessicated potatoes, 150 lbs. bacon, 10 lbs. 
dried beef, y 2 lb. of pepper, 10 lbs. baking powder. 
Other things may be added, such as condensed milk, etc., 
to suit the individual taste and pocket, always remembering 
that it is a requisite to economize weight as much as pos- 
sible. 

A pound of citric acid should be included in the outfit. 
It is not only a pleasant drink, but is also a preventive 
against the scurvy, which is the complaint most prevalent 
on the Yukon. - Other things that should be taken are 
medicines of a simple character. 

Above all, do not forget matches. They should be kept 
in a can or oil sack, and should not be packed so tight as 
to make the ignition of the whole supply at once a possi- 
bility. 

You now have quite a load, but one should not go with- 
out a full supply. You should have some money in your 
purse ; not only enough to pay your way, but also enough 
to last some time after you get to the end of your journey. 
It will cost something — and a considerable amount too — to 
get you and your supplies up to the Klondike. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE JUNEAU ROUTES. 



HOW TO GO DOWN THE YUKON FROM ITS HEADWATERS. 

In a former part of this book the Yukon River region 
has been described in a general way. It was there stated 
that the Yukon is formed by the junction of the Lewis and 
Pelly Rivers. 

The most common method of reaching the mines is by 
the Juneau route. Either from San Francisco or Seattle, 
one can go by steamer to Juneau, which is the largest city 
in Alaska — or was until Dawson City attained its recent 
prominence. 

THE TIME FOR STARTING. 

There are parties going over this route all months of the 
year from March to September. If a party go over before 
the snow melts in the mountains they can haul their supplies 
much more easily by the use of sleds. The sled used for 
the purpose should not be more than seven or eight inches 
high, seven and a half feet long and about one foot four inches 
in width. The runners should be metal-shod, brass being 
the best material for this purpose. Sleds can generally 
be used until the middle of April. After that the snow 
begins to melt and the expense and toil of getting the outfit 
to the headwaters of the Yukon are greatly increased. 

Some go earlier in the year and use dog-sleds, but the 

JI 5 



Il6 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

cold that must be encountered is terrific and no person who 
is not experienced in arctic travel should undertake it. 

WHEN SNOWSTORMS ARE ENCOUNTERED 

It should always be remembered, too, that those going 
either too early or too late are likely to encounter snow- 
storms of such severity that they often overwhelm the trav- 
eler. Many a person has perished in those storms before 
being able to reach shelter. 

Juneau is situated on the mainland, on a narrow strip of 
nearly level ground between the sea and a lofty, snow- 
capped mountain, rising 3,300 feet above. It was founded 
in 1880, at which time Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris 
prospected in the neighborhood. They found gold in the 
ravines and gorges of Gold Creek, near the settlement 
which the miners first called Harrisburg, after Richard 
Harris, then Rockwell, after a United States naval officer, 
and finally by resolution of a miners' meeting settled on the 
name "Juneau." 

Joseph Juneau was a nephew of Solomon Juneau, who 
was the founder of the city of Milwaukee, Wis., a fact which 
the latter city has duly commemorated by the erection of a 
statue in honor of the latter. 

JUNEAU WITHOUT LEGAL EXISTENCE. 

As the government has not yet extended the land laws 
to Alaska, Juneau, although a city of over two thousand in- 
habitants, has no legal existence, and the only title of its 
inhabitants is that of "squatter sovereignty." Yet they 




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; • I 



114' lr ¥l*5/m*Wsm 



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\m 

ilillii 



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Il8 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

are very enterprising, have a good water works system and 
electric light plant, and are supporters of two or three news- 
papers. 

From Juneau the route lies up the Lynn Canal, which 
has two inlets, known respectively as the Chilcat and Chil- 
coot inlets, leading up to the passes of the same names. 

The Chilcat Pass route is not well known. It is known 
as the "Dalton Trail," from the fact that Mr. Jack Dalton 
and a number of Indians in his employ passed over the route 
a few years ago. It is said that a native in Mr. Dalton's 
employ passed over the trail afoot and reached the Yukon 
River, just above Fort Selkirk, in fourteen days. 

THE WHITE PASS ROUTE. 

The White Pass route is being developed by the British 
Yukon Company, who have constructed over it a rough 
pack trail. The Canadian government is being urged to 
build over the pass a wagon road, preliminary to the con- 
struction of a railway. The summit of this pass is 2,600 
feet above the sea, and it is said that a little work would make 
it much superior to the Chilcoot route. The idea is to use 
the new route as a pack trail, with a saving in expense and 
toil in reaching Lake Takish, or by taking another direc- 
tion which presents few difficulties, to reach Lake Teslin, 
which is at the head of the Hootalinqua River. There the 
boat can be built and the trip down to Dawson can be made 
with little difficulty, eliminating the dangers of White 
Horse Rapids and Miles Canon. The only bad place on 
the route would then be the Five Fingers Rapids, which 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE II9 

are by no means so dangerous as the other two. Recent 
reports are that several parties have their outfits packed 
over that route, but it will take some work on the part of 
the company having it in charge before the prospecting 
parties will abandon the well-worn Chilcoot route. 

To reach the White Pass route as well as Chilcoot Pass 
it is necessary to go to Dyea, sometimes spelled "Ty-a." 

THE TOWN OF DYEA. 

From Juneau to Dyea, eight miles, we take the little steamer 
"Rustler." There are others, now that the road is crowded, 
but the "Rustler" has taken so. many safely that it seems 
to be part of the route itself. When reached, Dyea proves 
to be an Indian village and trading post up a creek of the 
same name. The village has been there a long while, but 
the trading post was established later by Captain J. J. 
Healy, now general manager of the North American Trans- 
portation and Trading Company. The place is marked 
"Healy's store" on many of the maps. There are several 
stores there now, and the last chance to procure supplies for 
several hundred miles is presented here. 

From Dyea six miles further can be made by canoes and 
then we disembark. 

OVER CHILCOOT PASS. 

From Dyea we can make arrangements with the Chilcat 
Indians to pack all of our outfit to Lake Lindermann, about 
twenty-seven miles distant over the pass. The established 
packing rate heretofore has been from twelve to fifteen 
cents a pound. This makes the expense very heavy, but 



120 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

the only other alternative is to carry the load ourselves. 
This is obviously impossible, unless we make many trips 
backward and forward. This is sometimes done, but it 
means possibly weeks of toil and exposure. 

From the head of canoe navigation we go through the 
canon, up a steep ascent, to Sheep Camp. Sometimes it is 
possible to have supplies packed on horses to this point, and 
in winter pack horses can be used to within half a mile of 
the summit of Chilcoot Pass. At this time the further 
progress by sleds can be continued for a long distance; 
but after the snow has melted off the lower levels the route 
is impassable for animals. 

After resting at Sheep Camp, where we have " made 
camp" for the night, we start at daybreak, following the 
trail up the canon until we reach the overhanging rocks 
which, affording shelter from storms, have received the 
name of Stone House. The summit is two miles above, by 
a precipitous and circuitous route. It must be crossed in 
good weather, and if a storm is brewing there is nothing 
else to do except to camp at Stone House and wait. The 
larger number of those making the trip rest here. 

THE TUG OF WAR. 

Now comes the tug of war. The first mile and a hajf is 
bad enough, but the last half mile is true Alpine work. If 
you are carrying a load, so much the harder. The 2,400 
feet climb from Stone House to the summit, through the 
snow, or in the summer through a mixture of slush and 
rocks, is about the hardest physical exertion we shall meet 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 121 

on our trip. We reach the top well winded, tired and re- 
lieved. If we have been carrying a heavy pack we lay it 
clown and take a rest. On our way up we have passed two 
or three noteworthy glaciers, — one a short distance above 
Sheep Camp, and the other as we near the summit, a wall 
of blue ice towering a thousand feet above the pass. We are 
not going to meet such another piece of road, unless we 
are trying to do our own packing. If this is the case we 
must go back and bring up the goods we have left behind. 

It is often necessary, in making journeys in this country, 
to cache part of our outfit, that is to say, to put it in a place 
where it is covered up so that animals will not devour it. 
Over in the timbered regions this is often done by building 
a receptacle of logs, mounted on uprights, high above the 
groundling vermin and bear-tight. Articles so cached are 
almost invariably respected, both by whites and Indians, 
he who would do violence to a cache being looked upon, by 
Yukoners, in about the same light that a horse-thief is 
regarded in western Texas. 

We will assume, however, that in the present case the 
packing has been hired out to the Chilcats as far as "Lake 
Lindermann, or at least all except the amount the members 
of the party can themselves carry in a single trip. 

THE DESCENT TO LAKE LINDERMANN. 

If there is snow all the way the nine-mile down-hill trip 
to Lake Lindermann is quite easy. From the summit the 
first descent is about six hundred feet to Crater Lake, the 
top of what was once a volcano but is now a lake about a 



122 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

mile wide. It is the actual source of the great Yukon, a 
river which at its mouth, about 2,200 miles below, dis- 
charges into Norton Sound a larger volume of water than 
is emptied into the Mexican Gulf by the Mississippi. 

There are two or three other small lakes to be skirted and 
some shallow but swift rivulets to be waded, before we 
reach Lake Lindermann. Here we make a camp, because 
we have a raft to build, and we are tired out. There is a 
difference of many degrees of temperature between this lake 
and the summit of Chilcoot Pass, but it is still cold enough, 
even here, except during the period from June to September. 

DOWN THE LAKE CHAIN. 

Our journey now lies through a chain of connected 
lakes which culminate in that arm of the Yukon 
known as Lewis River. When we get to the shore 
of Lake Lindermann, we find timber plentiful, but 
small. It is best to build a raft here, because the timber to 
build boats is scarce, and there is a portage to be made at 
the other end of this lake. 

At the first camp we make on Lake Lindermann the 
Indians keep us company until morning. They bid us 
good-bye, after trying to borrow a little tobacco from 
those of our party who use it, and then we begin, as soon 
as we have breakfasted, to get logs together for our raft. 
After enough material has been gathered, we anchor out 
the largest and longest log, then float out another large log 
and lash it alongside, and so on until we have it wide enough. 
Then we make another laver crosswise, then another across 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



123 




STORE AT FORTY-MILE. 

that, and then a fourth, and then light poles, until we can 
put our goods on top of the raft and have them well out of 
the water. The raft should be well calculated in this regard, 
for it may be well above water at the start, but, with a ton 
or so of freight and several hundred pounds of fortune- 
hunters, the entire contrivance is likely to be under water, 
to the great detriment of many of our belongings — sugar 
and salt, for instance. We are glad we thought of the oil 
bags. 

The logs should be all procured and piled up before the 
raft is made, and the structure should be put together as 
quickly as possible, because as the logs get water-soaked 
they sink deeper into the lake. When we are ready we 
pole out into the lake, hoist a sail if we have one, and with- 
out hugging the shore too closely we keep toward the right 
bank until we see a well-worn trail. Then we take our raft 



124 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



to the shore, unload it, and make a portage of less than half 
a mile across to Lake Bennett. A crooked river, a mile 
long, connects the two lakes; but it consists of rapids and 
rugged rocks, and we do not care to risk our belongings. 

LUMBER AT $IOO PER THOUSAND. 

A year or two ago a party of men brought over the pass, 
in the early spring when the sledding was good, a small 
boiler, engine and circular saw. They were going to build 
a boat, put the engine and boiler into it for motive power, 
and go down the river. By the time their mill was up and 
in running order, along came a party of prospectors and 
wanted to buy lumber of them. Since then they have been 
kept busy selling lumber at $100 per thousand, or ready- 
built boats for from $75 upward. They have not been able 
to supply the demand which the new rush has brought upon 
them. Many have to cut out their lumber with the whip- 
saw in order to make their boats, timber being quite plen- 
tiful. 

It will take about six hundred feet of lumber to make a 
boat to hold four men and outfits. It will be from twenty- 
five to thirty feet long, and should be carefully and strongly 
made. Boats for the Yukon are made in all styles, and 
some without any style at all. The best are made with lap 
streaks, and are tightly calked with oakum and pitch. 
Take enough time to make the boat a sound one, for it 
must last a considerable time and withstand rough usage. 

When the raft is completed and loaded, the voyage is com- 
menced. A good sail will help immensely, and if our party 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



"5 



are not sufficiently adept to make a sloop rig for the boat, a 
square sail will do very well. 

KEEP TO THE RIGHT. 

The right-hand side of Lake Bennett should be followed 
until Cariboo Crossing is reached. Here there is a stream 
connecting Lake Bennett with Lake Tagish, and near by is 
a well worn trail used by bands of Cariboo in their annual 




PROSPECTORS' CAMP OX THE KLONDIKE. 

or biennial excursions. The connecting river is about two 
miles long, and quite sluggish. In Lake Tagish we keep 
near the left-hand shore for about eighteen miles, and 
then enter a river which is about six miles long. About 
half way is Tagish House, a large Indian council house, 



126 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

several huts and a burial ground, usually deserted, but be- 
longing to the Stick tribe of Indians. The river is wide 
and sluggish, and in some places quite shallow. We 
emerge into Lake Marsh or Mud Lake, through which 
we follow the left bank twenty-five miles to the head of 
a wide river, the Lewis. On Marsh Lake, if it be sum- 
mer, we learn most completely the suction capacity of the 
famed Yukon mosquito. But now we are through it and 
well on our way down the Lewis we have something else to 
think of, for about twenty miles of the river having been 
passed we are approaching the worst danger points of the 
whole journey. 

MILES CANON AND WHITE HORSE RAPIDS. 

About twenty-five miles, or a little less, below Lake 
Marsh a wall of mountains rises up, and the river, which 
has been about two hundred yards in width, is suddenly 
confined w T ithin a space of less than fifty feet. This is the 
famous and deservedly dreaded Miles Canon, in which 
scores have been drowned. It is three-quarters of a mile 
long, and about half w 7 ay down there is a sudden widening 
of the channel into short curved bays on each side, then a 
contraction of the canon to its original narrowness until it 
emerges into the broad river. i\t the enlarged center the 
rushing waters spread out and have a terrific suction toward 
the sides, and then when the canon narrows again the 
waters plunge into the confined outlet with seething 
violence. Some go through the canon safely, some at- 
tempt it and die, and others take the only safe course 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 127 

and make a portage. As we approach the canon we 
keep to tJie rig Jit. If vve decide to "shoot" the canon 
we lighten our boat of part of its load, use our efforts 
to keep in the middle of the channel, and in about two min- 
utes the boat and its occupants will be through the canon or 
else sucked down in that powerful current. My advice is — 
don't! 

On the right-hand side, about one hundred feet above the 
canon, there is a smooth trail along a bench, which many 
hundreds of Yukoners have used in making a portage. If 
we follow their example, three or four hours will suffice to 
get boat and outfit over the trail, with everything safe and 
sound. It is a little work, but none of the party is missing. 

KEEP TO THE LEFT. 

Onr troubles, however, are not yet over, for having 
emerged from Miles Canon it is only between two and 
three miles to the White Horse Rapids. Keep to the left. 
As soon as we reach smooth water on the left bank w r e tie 
up and look for a place to make a portage. 

Some run the rapids ; but many of those who have at- 
tempted it have drowned. The portage is not long and the 
danger to be avoided is equal to that just passed through at 
Miles Canon. Near the rapids there is a plane of rock, 
near the river, which is often used to line the boats through 
the rapids. This will do at a very low stage of water, but 
even then is dangerous. If the water is high, disaster is 
more than likely and many a boat has been dashed to pieces 
on the rocks or swamped in the waters when its owner has 
tried to line it down. 



128 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 




ft, 



HOME OF JOSEPH LADUE, FOUNDER OF DAWSON. 

The best way is to make a portage of a hundred yards or 
so to safe water, and a little below is another stretch of 
equal danger around which a portage should also be made. 
It is about half a mile through White Horse Rapids. 

ON TO THE YUKON. 

The worst dangers of the journey are now over and the 
boat glides on, with a swift current, sixteen miles to the con- 
fluence of the Tahkeena River and then twelve miles further 
until we reach Lake La Barge. 

It will be understood that we have been talking about the 
summer trip. Those who come in during March or April, 
before the thaw begins, will make the journey from Chil- 
coot Pass as far as Lake La Barge, if possible with sleds. 
They will then stop here, with the worst dangers of the 
journey past, to build their boat for the down-river trip. 



136 The gold fields of the Klondike: 

Lake La Barge is a very beautiful sheet of water, thirty 
miles in length and from five to ten miles in width. At its 
end we emerge into the river again, and after a run of 
thirty miles come to the junction of the Hootalinqua River. 
There are numerous rocks in this thirty miles, but after 
that it is plain sailing until at 135 miles below we reach the 
Five Finger Rapids. For five miles before reaching them 
a marked acceleration of the current is noticeable. Keep 
close to the right bank and make a landing. If the load is 
heavy it should be lightened before attempting to go 
through. 

DANGER AHEAD. 

Five Fingers is an obstruction caused by a ledge of rock 
lying directly across the stream with five openings in it. 
There are four rocks of large size standing in a row across 
the river. If not too heavily loaded these rapids can be 
passed without any difficulty. Keep to the right. 

Three miles below are the Rink Rapids. Keep to the 
right. There is no danger here, nor is there any more to 
the end of our journey. Below Rink Rapids we have the 
smoothest kind of traveling all the way to the mouth of the 
Klondike, which is about two hundred and thirty miles. 
We go on the first fifty-five miles, and the Pelly River coming 
in and joining the Lewis, we are on the main Yukon. The 
other important streams are the White, Stewart, Sixty-Mile 
and Indian Rivers, all streams of golden repute and then — 

The Klondike and Dawson City ! 



CHAPTER X. 
DAWSON CITY, 



DESCRIPTION OF THE METROPOLIS OE THE YUKON. 

When you get to Dawson City you are in a typical min- 
ing camp, with all that- the name implies. Of course there 
are differences in mining camps, but they are for the greater 
part climatic, and the general characteristics of mining 
camps have always been about the same — from Hangtown 
to Dawson. 

Some differences will be noted at Dawson which are due 
to surrounding circumstances. One of the most noteworthy 
is the absence of "shooting scrapes." In the "boom times" 
of Hangtown, Washoe, Tombstone, Deadwood, Leadville 
and Creede they had, as the saying went, "a man for break- 
fast every morning." This prevalence of lawlessness in the 
mining camps in the United States is largely an evil arising 
from the too literal carrying out of democratic principles. 
Those who are at work in the mines are too busy to attend 
to matters of law and order, and, as a consequence, the new 
settlement is largely run, in its earlier days, by the lawless 
elements in the community, the "sure-thing" gambler, the 
cappers and loafers, and the professional "desperado," who 
puts in his intervals between stage-robbing and claim- 
jumping and loafing around saloons, and who poses as a 

131 



132 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

bad man " from Bitter Creek" until, in some quarrel, he is 
killed. 

ONLY ONE SERIOUS AFFRAY. 

The Klondike discoveries were made in September, and 
from that time until the boats came out in June only one 
serious affray occurred. A man was shot in the back by a 
vicious character, who was immediately arrested by the 
Canadian Mounted Police, and was awaiting trial for felo- 
nious assault, at last accounts, his victim having recovered. 

There are many and just complaints about the hard rules 
enforced by Canada in respect to mining claims on the 
Yukon, but, on the other hand, the protection afforded by 
their agencies of law and order cannot be too highly com- 
mended. 

Dawson is laid out in rectangular shape into lots and 66- 
foot streets, and has been regularly entered as a town site by 
Joseph Ladue, its proprietor, and town-lots are as good as 
gold, for they bring, in favorable locations, as high as 
$5,000 apiece. It lies on low ground on the east bank of 
the Yukon, a short distance below the mouth of the Klondike 
River. The principal part of the inhabitants live in tents, 
temporarily, although a good many houses have gone up, 
many of them being finer than anything heretofore known 
on the Yukon. Yet the best of them would be considered 
poor affairs in almost any civilized towns or villages in the 
United States. The most pretentious of them are the 
saloons, except the large warehouses built by the two trad- 
ing companies. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE I 33 

The latter do a big business. They control the means of 
ingress for all kinds of merchandise, and while they have 
been straining every resource to get provisions through to 
meet the big influx of people who are coming in from 
every direction, while they have practically a monopoly 
of the business, they do not use it oppressively, although 
when a shortage comes they put up prices to steep figures 
until it is relieved. 

"FOUR BITS" THE MINIMUM COIN. 

The lowest measure of value in actual use at Dawson is 
" four bits" or fifty cents. It is the price of the smallest 
articles. They say that a newcomer who had arrived via 
the river and whose nether garments were out of repair 
went to one of the stores and called for a needle, which he 
got, and then asked what was the price. 

"Four bits," was the stereotyped response. 

"Isn't that pretty steep?" asked the tenderfoot. 

THE FREIGHT THAT COUNTS. 

"Well, you see, my friend," said the storekeeper, "it 
ain't the first cost of the needle that counts, but it's the 
freight." 

Prices of commodities fluctuate at Dawson, as elsewhere, 
in accordance with the inexorable law of supply and de- 
mand, except whisky, which is staple at "four bits" a 
drink, and you can fill the glass to the rim if you want to. 
The demand never fails nor the supply. If the latter should 
threaten a shortage, the river is near by and strength would 
be allowed to suffer rather than quantity. 



134 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

SCALE OF PRICES. 

As to other commodities, they are all proportionately 
high. Joseph Ladue, who has been merchandising on the 
Yukon for years, has prepared the following scale of 
prices: 

Flour, per ioo pounds $ 1 2.00 

Moose hams, per pound 1 .00 

Caribou meat, per pound 65 

Beans, per pound 10 

Rice, per pound 25 

Sugar, per pound 25 

Bacon, per pound 40 

Butter, per roll 1.50 

Eggs, per dozen 1.50 

Better eggs, per dozen 2.00 

Salmon, each $1 to 1^50 

Potatoes, per pound 25 

Turnips, per pound 15 

Tea, per pound ..... 1.00 

Coffee, per pound 50 

Dried fruits, per pound 35 

Canned fruits 50 

Canned meats 75 

Lemons, each 20 

Oranges, each 50 

Tobacco, per pound 1.50 

Liquors, per drink 50 

Shovels 2 «5o 

Picks .,..., 5.00 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



*35 



Coal oil, per gallon , i.oo 

Overalls 1.50 

Underwear, per suit $5 to 7*50 

Shoes 5.00 

Rubber boots $ 10 to 15.00 




BRINGING HOME THEIR GOLD. 

Along in the late spring, when the supply runs down to a 
low ebb, these prices may be doubled or more. Lumber at 
last quotations was worth $150 per thousand feet, rough; 
250 planed. Wages in town $10 per day for unskilled 
labor, $15 for carpenters and $15 for work in the mines; 
>ut it was thought wages would get lower with the big 
irrivals of new people. Logs are worth $30 per thousand 



136 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

feet, log measure at the mill. The sawmill at Dawsoti is 
of small capacity, and although it is kept running day and 
night it is away behind its orders. 

MUCH CAROUSING GOING ON. 

Dawson is what is called "a lively camp." Liveliness, 
in this connection, largely means drunkenness and carous- 
ing. Those who have lived in "flush" mining camps will 
be able to picture the scene for themselves. The people 
coming to town are of heterogeneous assortment. The first 
man you meet, rough in garb and grizzled in appearance, 
may be a graduate of a good college, a scion of a first-class 
family, and a man who ean interestingly discuss subjects of 
literature, science and culture. The next, arrayed in the 
" boiled shirt" only recently introduced into the Yukon, and 
costing a dollar to launder, is probably the "barkeep" of a 
favorite saloon, or the "piano-thumper" of the biggest dance 
house. 

The saloons are of the mining-camp type. In front the 
bar, with a pair of gold scales at the end. Back of that the 
dance is going on, and either a piano that has seen better 
days, or a violin that would better have never occurred at all, 
is constantly going. "Git your pardners for a cowtillion," 
yells a loud voice, w T hich follows w T ith " Balance all ! Alaman 
left! Ladies chain!" and so on, concluding with "Prom- 
enade all — to the bar ! " 

They make the numbers short and lively, so as to make 
the last call come as frequently as possible. 

In the back part of the room are the gambling lay-outs, 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE I37 

the poker games and the other devices by which the miners 
are inveigled to give up all or a large share of their dust to 
the boiled-shirt gentry who toil not. 

Not all miners are patrons of these establishments. Quite 
a large share of those who are now delving in the mines of 
the district are men of industry and purpose who came in 
with a "grub stake" and are straining every nerve for a 
" home stake," looking perhaps to the relieving of a family 
pinched by poverty, a mother in humble circumstances, or a 
loyal sweetheart who waits and watches; all thinking of 
some one on "the outside." It is queer that home should be 
so designated. In Arizona, before the era of railroads, 
when the only means of communication was by buckboard 
over the desert to the end of the railroad at Los Angeles, 
we used to call the trip to San Francisco "going inside." 
Up on the Yukon they recognized the completeness of their 
isolation by saying that one coming to the " States" is 
"going outside." 

THE DISCOVERER OF BONANZA. 

In Dawson, as in other mining towns, there is the loafer 
who has no mine, no home, nothing but a consuming thirst, 
which he is waiting for some other person to gratify. To 
him, as a boon, comes the miner, usually an old-timer, who 
has something besides room in his dust sack and who is 
willing to set 'em up. The latter goes from saloon to 
saloon with quite a retinue. One of the most generous of 
these " producers" is said to be George McCormack, owner 
of the Discovery on Bonanza Creek, He is a man of some 



r^~ 




s : 






3* 



40& 



f j 







ON THE WAY TO THE KLONDIKE. 

Miners and Indians packing outfit up the steep ascent above 
Stone House, Chilkoot Pass. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE I 39 

intelligence and an old-timer on the river, with an Indian 
wife and several brown-faced youngsters. He used to have 
a little store on the river above "Five Finger Rapids," 
where he traded with the Indians, and he did some work in 
developing a coal vein in the same neighborhood. He has 
lived at every camp on the river and is well known all along 
the river. He was engaged at the Indian village at the 
mouth of the Klondike in drying salmon for a living prior 
to making the great strike on Bonanza. The old-timers 
call him "Stick George," because of his close relationship 
with the Stick Indians; but just now he is being made 
much of by the "rounders" of the camp, and in frontier 
fashion George frequently "treats the crowd" at an expense 
sometimes of as much as $50 per treat. Even a discovery 
claim on the Bonanza will not stand that long. 

There are men of all sorts and conditions in Dawson, 
and of all shades of opinion. Many are old Pacific coast 
miners, and therefore ardent believers in free coinage 
theories. Many of them think that the gold of the Yukon 
region is so plentiful that it will cause gold to be demone- 
tized. Some of those who came out with a "home stake" 
last summer made the trip with a view to getting the value 
of their money while it was good. 

WOMEN IN THE CAMP. 

There are several good women at Dawson and the mines 
near by — most of them with their husbands, whose fortunes 
they are sharing, but a few of them working in various 
useful ways to improve their own fortunes. 



I40 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

The women who have been brave enough to go to the 
frozen north with their husbands are of the kind to prove 
valuable aids to them, and some of the most fortunate men 
in the gulches are included among the married men. The 
Canadian law does not recognize a married woman's prop- 
erty rights, and she cannot locate a claim in addition to her 
husband's, but the aid which she extends in giving the home 
atmosphere even to a lonely hut on the confines of the Arctic 
Circle is as good as a gold mine. 

The good luck of the married miners has made a deep im- 
pression upon the bachelor ones. Some have left sweet- 
hearts at home, many others are heart-whole and fancy-free, 
but very impressionable. An unmarried woman of good 
character who goes to the Yukon will have to stand a con- 
stant siege of admirers. I do not say this in order to start 
a stampede of spinsters to the new El Dorado, but merely as 
a veracious recorder of the facts surrounding the social life 
at Dawson City. 

BRIDGET STRUCK ,IT RICH. 

I give the following story at second-hand, but it is too 
good not to be true. 

" P. B. Weare, of Chicago, head of the North American 
Transportation and Trading Company, says some women 
do well in the Klondike region. A year ago he and Mrs. 
Weare rejoiced in the possession of a cook, whose name 
was Bridget. One day Bridget announced her intention 
of going to Alaska. Mr. Weare remonstrated. 'You can't 
mine,' he said. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE I4I 

" 'That's true,' answered the woman, 'but there's them that 
can.' 

"A woman of stylish appearance and haughty demeanor 
swished her silken skirts past the admiring office-boy in 
Mr. Weare's office last Thursday, and extended a primrose- 
gloved hand to the stout man who sat at the desk. Looking 
up, he recognized his old cook. 

"She told him that before she had got fifty miles up the 
Yukon she had received 125 proposals of marriage, and that 
she had held off until an engaging compatriot, with a Kerry 
brogue and a mine that panned at the rate of $50,000 a 
month, swore that he could not live without her. 'I am 
now on my way to Europe,' said Bridget, 'and I thought 
I'd like to see you as I went through. You mind what 
I told you when I left?' " 

In a mining camp, however rough, women of good repute 
are accorded the highest deference. 

THE DISREPUTABLE ELEMENT. 

In Dawson, however, all the women are not of the class 
named, and the "dance hall fairies" are among the most 
demoralizing elements of the town. These characters follow 
successful gold mining everywhere. Inspector Constantine, 
head of the Mounted Police, succeeds in keeping the dis- 
reputable element within bounds. The women who went 
into Dawson wore bloomers over the mountain, and when 
they reached the city they made up their minds to adopt the 
costume altogether, thus appearing in the streets and dance 
halls. But Captain Constantine gave orders that either 



I 4 2 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



bloomers or their wearers must go, and the women took to 
abbreviated skirts, instead. 

The currency is gold dust. The stores and saloons have 
gold-scales at the end of counter and bar. The saloons issue 
chips w r hich are good at the bar or in the gambling game. 
The miner brings in his sack and leaves it behind the bar, 
saying, "Give me five hundred," or whatever amount he 
thinks he requires. When he wants his gold again he re- 
turns the unused chips and pays for what he owes. 

The summer at Dawson is a queer season, because the sun 




CHAMPION PAN FOR ONE MONTH ON EL DORADO CREEK, 
$300. BROUGHT HOME BY CLARENCE J. BERRY. 



The gold fields of The Klondike 143 

never sets and one can read a newspaper without artificial 
light at every hour of the twenty-four. 

The famous Yukon mosquito is a terror for some time 
after the snow melts, but becomes less troublesome in the 
latter part of the summer. When in full training he is a 
ferocious demon in comparison with whom the famous 
Jersey variety is a cooing innocent. 

Before the snow melted last spring an enterprising cattle- 
man from Juneau drove in a herd of forty beeves from the 
coast and slaughtered them. The beef went readily at from 
50 to 75 cents a pound. 

NEW FINDS BRING STAMPEDES. 

The daily excitement in Klondike, outside of that around 
the saloons, consists of the news that comes in from the 
various gulches and creeks. A man will bring news of 
promising discoveries of "pay gravel" anywhere from ten 
to fifty miles or more away. Then begins a stampede; 
picks, shovels, pans and several days' provisions are packed 
up and a hundred men are on their way to the creek or gulch 
where the "find" is supposed to be. Some of these trips 
end in disgust, but so many have turned out well that the 
camp is kept in a continual state of excitement. Dominion 
Creek ? a branch of Indian River, and Henderson Creek, 
emptying into the Yukon near the mouth of Stewart River, 
called out quite a host of gold hunters and are said to pros- 
pect well. 

TOO-MUCH-GOLD CREEK. 

One of the most common subjects of discussion during 



144 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

the early summer was as to the location of Too-Much-Gold 
Creek. The name came from an Indian yarn that in 
"Bonanza much gold, in Hunker Creek more gold, and in 
long creek, higher up, too much gold" — "too much" being 
an Indian superlative. 

Along in the latter part of June a creek emptying into the 
Klondike about thirty-five miles up was explored and 
many claims located toward its head-waters. It is said to 
prospect well. They named it Too-Much-Gold Creek. 

These continual finds keep Dawson agog. It is notice- 
able that "tenderfoot" is no longer 'a title of disrespect in 
the camp. So many utter "greenhorns" have made strikes 
that some of the old-timers are disgusted. The experienced 
miners thought Bonanza Creek was too wide to be much 
account, but their theories have been entirely upset by the 
results. "I'll tell you what, boys," said one of them, "you 
can't tell anything about gold. You're just as likely to 
find it where it ain't as where it is!" 

SHUT OUT FROM CIVILIZATION. 

Dawson is very anxious to hear from the outside world. 
Steamers are few and far between and newspapers are a 
luxury. The mail comes to Circle City, and it costs a dol- 
lar a letter to get the mail in and out. The Dominion gov- 
ernment, however, has ordered the establishing of a post- 
office, and mail matters will be much aided and expedited. 

When books and papers arrive in camp, they are read and 
reread and handed about until they are worn out. Those 
who wearily pack goods over mountains and down 



I46 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

rapids, are for the most part meagerly supplied in the way 
of libraries. 

When the long, dark winter comes on, Dawson will have 
a larger resident population, but less visitors. If the food 
supply keeps up the town will be gay. Its rowdy features 
will perhaps become more pronounced, but the police force 
is to be augmented, and Captain Constantine, while pursu- 
ing a liberal policy, keeps a rigid control over any ten- 
dency toward more serious disorder. 

The most noteworthy feature of the camp is the rigid 
honesty and trustfulness that have so far prevailed. Gold 
sacks representing thousands of dollars in value are thrown 
under counters and bars without being weighed or counted, 
and yet these deposits have been as safe and sacred as if 
they had been placed in safety vaults of the most modern 
build. 

Dawson is a rough place in a rough country, but it holds 
a very large number of men of the best and noblest type, 
with the physical endowments and character to achieve 
great and brave things. 

HORSES, DOGS AND REINDEER. 

One of the things which will especially impress the new- 
comer is the absence of horses. There have been horses 
in the Yukon valley, but they do not do well. The severe 
winters crack their hoofs .so that thev are useless, and 
horses driven in during the summer are usually killed for 
dog meat in the winter, bringing about fifteen cents a 
pound. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 1 47 

There are dogs. You find them of every kind and degree, 
but they are highly valued because they are about the only 
beasts of burden in that section. Rev. Sheldon Jackson, 
who has been in Alaska for years in charge of Indian edu- 
cational affairs on behalf of the government, has been bring- 
ing reindeer from Siberia for domestication as a govern- 
ment enterprise, but the project has not yet sufficiently 
advanced to make reindeer a factor in the transportation 
facilities of the country. Some will be sent to Circle City 
next winter, but Dawson City being in Canada, none will go 
there. 

* NO FIREARMS. 

Another very noticeable feature, which is a leading 
one in the prevention of crime and disorder, is the absence 
of firearms. In the old-time Pacific Coast mining towns 
the six-shooter was regarded as indispensable. But in 
Dawson the rule against firearms is rigidly enforced by the 
Mounted Police. There is no necessity for a pistol either in 
town or outside of it. The natives are all peaceable, and the 
game is better hunted with rifle and shotgun. The absence 
of pistols is the very best feature of the management of 
affairs at Dawson. 

The region around Dawson is very well timbered. The 
trees are not large, and the logs for the mill come from 
points higher up the river, but the supply for fuel comes 
from points near by. The high cost of labor in cutting 
and hauling, however, brings the price of fuel up to $25 
per cord in Dawson. 



I48 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE kLONDIKE 

SOCIAL FEATURES OF DAWSON. 

The religious element is not predominant in Dawson 
City, by any means, but it is not entirely absent. Missions 
have been established by the Church of England (Episcopal) 
and the Roman Catholics, and regular services are held. 

New business enterprises are being established almost 
every day, the saloons being the most numerous. Two or 
three of the larger ones have most of the trade, and Harry 
Ash, who moved his dancing establishment and saloon from 
Circle City to Dawson, is said to be taking in from $2,000 
to $3,000 per day. There is no midnight closing ordinance 
in Dawson and the wet goods establishments keep contin- 
ually open. 

The store of the Alaska Commercial Company carries a 
large stock of goods and is in charge of Captain J. E. 
Hansen, an energetic young business man who understands 
the wants of the country. 

CAPTAIN JOHN J. HEALY. 

The business of the North American Transportation and 
Trading Company at Dawson is in personal charge of 
Captain John J. Healy. He was the originator of the 
company and enlisted the aid of Portus B. Weare and John 
Cudahy, Chicago capitalists, in its organization. Out on the 
Yukon the formal title is seldom used. They call it " Captain 
Healy's Company." 

Captain Healy has led a life of adventure. He was born 
in Ireland fifty-five years ago, but was brought to the United 
States by his parents when a very small boy. The spirit of 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



I 49 



adventure was innate in him, and when twelve years of age 
he ran away from home to join Walker's famous band of 
filibusters, bound for Nicaragua. Later he went to Salt 
Lake City with Johnson's army to assist in disciplining the 
Mormons. From that time he was a foremost figure 
among the pioneers of the "untrodden west." He discov- 
ered the Salmon River gold fields in Idaho and was first 
at the Last Chance leads in Montana. From the latter place 
he prospected up the Saskatchewan. There he saw a tempt- 




^r^S^S^: -^M** « ^ V 






SIXTY-MILE, YUKON RIVER. 

ing opportunity to trade with the Blackfeet Indians. He 
established Fort Whoopup and became so popular with the 
Indians that for many years the powerful Hudson Bay 
Company did not venture to invade his territory, although 
eager to drive him from the field of competition. Later he 
became sheriff of Choteau County, Montana, in the wildest 
days of that region. He became a terror to outlaws, and it 
is said of him that no bandit was ever "quick enough to get 
the drop on Johnny Healy," 



150 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

There are few sections of the west which he has not 
traversed as miner, trapper or trader, and where he is not 
known. 

From Montana Captain Healy went to Alaska and estab- 
ished, at the head of Chilcoot Inlet, south of the pass of the 
same name, a store still known as "Healy's Store," at what 
is now called Dyea. He was up on the Yukon years ago 
and became impressed with its richness as a gold-bearing 
region ; and since the establishing of the North American 
Trading and Transportation Company has been a leader in 
the development of the country. 

MRS. HEALY AND HER MINE. 

Captain Healy has a wife and an established home at 
Dawson, having moved there from Fort Cudahy. It is 
noteworthy that he was really the first to try mining in the 
vicinity of Dawson. Opposite the mouth of the Klondike 
he located, about five years ago, a quartz ledge, which 
carries copper and some gold. Out on the Yukon the 
appetite for quartz mines has even yet not been fully devel- 
oped, and Captain Healy let the time expire without doing 
his "assessment work" within the time prescribed by law. 
It was safe enough, however, for Yukoners had not acquired 
the claim-jumping habit. About a year after locating his 
claim Captain Healy and his wife were making a trip on 
the steamer to Sixty-Mile, and he told Mrs. Healy about 
the claim, but said that he had not worked it and did not 
think he would, as it was " too early to bother with quartz." 

Mrs, Healy told her husband that if he did not want the 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



I5 1 



mine she did, and she relocated it, named it the " Four-Leaf 
Clover Mine," and became the possessor of a ledge eighty feet 
wide from wall to wall, with all its "dips, spurs and angles," 
turning out rock rich in copper and carrying from $ioto $15 
a ton in gold, as far as prospected. The development has 
been done by tunnelling, and the mine is locally known as 
"Captain Healv's tunnel." 




*wi;3 







INDIAN VILLAGE ON FORTY MILE CREEK, YUKON RIVER. 



OTHER ENTERPRISES AT DAWSON. 

Besides the general stores and saloons there are other busi- 
ness enterprises. The one blacksmith shop is doing a rushing 
business, as active mining calls for a considerable amount 
of work of that kind. A barber shop, bakery and laundry 
also flourish. 

It used to be the proud claim of mining camps of '49 
on the Sierras that they were so healthful that it was neces- 
sary to " kill a man to start a graveyard," without which no 



152 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

city could be considered full-fledged. Dawson, however, 
has a cemetery already established. William Stickney and 
partner started from Juneau to go up the Yukon last winter 
and Stickney died from exposure on Lake Lebarge. His 
partner tried to get aid to take the body up to Dawson, but 
failed, and made the trip alone. Stickney's body was the 
first buried in Dawson. 

HEALTH OF DAWSON CITY. 

In spite of the rigor of the climate, Dawson may be 
considered a very healthy city. The winter is severe and 
uncomfortable, but to those who are warmly clad and well 
housed, and who are careful of themselves, the cold season 
is the one when there is least sickness. Scurvy, resulting 
from the lack of fresh meat and vegetables, is the complaint 
most prevalent, both on the road and in the mining camps. 
It can be easily prevented, however, by the use of lime 
juice (which costs $2.50 a quart bottle in Dawson), or, still 
better, by using citric acid flavored with lemon, making a 
pleasant lemonade which is, at the same time, the best anti- 
scorbutic medicine known. Those who go to Dawson should 
procure at least a pound of citric acid crystals and two 
ounces of oil of lemons. 

Some get rheumatism from exposure, although that 
disease is not greatly prevalent, and there is no malaria. 
Early in the summer there is some biliousness and consti- 
pation, but the amount of sickness is not great, although a 
resident physician who went to Dawson from Circle City, 
and Police Surgeon A. E, Wills both have a good practice. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 153 

They carry their own supplies of staple drugs and medi- 
cines and compound their own prescriptions. Common reme- 
dies and patent medicines are carried at the trading stores. 

Surgeon Wills, in a report to the Canadian government, 
says of the health of the country : 

"The diseases most met with in this country are dyspep- 
sia, anaemia ; scurvy caused by improperly cooked food, same- 
ness of diet, overwork, want of fresh vegetables, overheated 
and badly ventilated houses; rheumatism, pneumonia, bron- 
chitis, and teritis, cystitis, and other acute diseases, from 
exposure to wet and cold; debility and chronic diseases, 
due to excesses. One case of typhoid fever occurred in 
Forty-Mile last fall, probably due to drinking water polluted 
with decayed vegetable matter." 

NEW FEATURES OF THE TOWN. 

During the winter there was a lodging house in Dawson, 
occupying along, low building of logs. It is being replaced 
by a larger and more comfortable structure. There are two 
or three restaurants in Dawson. The staple charge for a 
meal is $1.50, unless the customer wants luxuries, when 
the bill is proportionately increased. 

One of the greatest needs of the town is proper facilities 
for sending money to the States, but this will likely not last 
longer than next spring, when Wells, Fargo & Co. will 
establish a branch in Dawson and furnish the opportunity 
for miners to send money home safely. 

A newspaper is one of the things that will be started if 
the adventurous thought-moulders who are dragging Wash- 
ington hand-presses over the pass get through. 



• CHAPTER XI. 
HOW WOMEN FARE. 



EXPERIENCES OF MRS. BERRY AND MRS. GAGE TOLD BY 
THEMSELVES. 

Her novel experience of going over the divide and 
living in a mining camp in the frozen north as a wedding 
trip makes anything from Mrs. Berry, " the bride of the 
Klondike," especially interesting, and as many women 
have expressed a desire to go to the " land of the mid- 
night sun " in search of fame and fortune, they will like to 
hear her experiences in her own words. She was asked to 
give her opinion upon the subject of the proposed femi- 
nine exodus to the north. 

ADVICE TO WOMEN. 

"What advice would I give to a woman about going 
to Alaska? " she said pleasantly. "Why, to stay away, of 
course. It's no place for a woman. I mean for a woman 
alone; one who goes to make a living or a fortune. Yes, 
there are women going into the mines alone, there were 
when we came out, all with the hope of getting big pay. 
It's much better for a man, though, if he has a wife along. 
Whatever stories of miserable living and excessive hard- 
ships there are, are about the poor fellows who had not 
sufficient outfit or suffered by their own poor cooking. 

154 







MRS. CLARENCE J. BERRY. 

The "Bride of the Klondike" in Winter Costume, 



1^6 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

" The men are not much at cooking up there, and that 
is the reason they suffer with stomach troubles, and, as 
some say they did, with scurvy. After a man has worked 
hard all day in the diggings he doesn't feel much like cook- 
ing a nice meal when he goes to his cabin, cold, tired and 
hungry, and finds no fire in the stove and all the food 
frozen. 

CLOTHES SUITED FOR THE TRIP. 

" I took an outfit of clothes made especially for the trip. 
I got everything of the best material, and found it paid in 
the long run. One doesn't need a great deal, and it is 
best to take no more than is actually necessary on account 
of the trouble and expense of carrying the things. My 
outfit cost about $250. It included three suits of every- 
thing, right straight through. 

"I had very heavy woolen underwear and knitted 
woolen stockings. My skirts were made short, only a 
little below the knee. I had a heavy fur coat of marten, a 
fur cape, fur gloves and the heaviest shawl I could get. 
Shoes are not necessary, except to go to Juneau and come 
back from there. My fur coat I took from here, because, 
strange as it may seem, furs cost less and are better here 
than in Alaska. 

"A fur robe is necessary. We got one up there from a 
man coming out, but it is just as well for any one going up 
to take one along. The fur gloves can be had up there 
better than here, however, and cost about $3. Moccasins 
are worn instead of shoes through the winter and mu- 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



i57 



clues when it is thawing and wet. They are both to be 
had there at from $1 to $4 or $5 a pair. The moccasins 
are made of fur seal, ' with the furry side inside and the 
inside out', like Minnehaha's clothing. They come to the 
knee, or half way or all they way up the thigh, as you 
choose. They are slipped on like a boot, and from the 
instep the thongs go across round the leg, like the old- 
fashioned sandals, and tie at the top, where there is also a 
draw string. 

"The muclues — that's the native name for them — are 
the mud moccasins. The soles are made waterproof with 
seal oil. If a woman keeps her feet warm her health is 
pretty safe, and for that reason, in addition to the woolen 
stockings and moccasins, I wore also flannel insoles. In 
all the time I was in Alaska I never suffered from frost- 
bite — didn't even get my fingers nipped or my nose — and 
I wore no veil all the time I was there. I took a good 
medicine chest with me, too. 

THREE MONTHS WITH DOG TEAM. 

"We left Juneau last March with several friends, our 
supplies and a dog team. I put on my Alaska uniform 
there, the heavy flannels, warm dress with short skirt, 
moccasins, fur coat, cap and gloves, kept my shawl handy 
to roll up in case of storms, and was rolled in a full robe 
and bound to the sled, so when it rolled over I rolled with 
it, and many tumbles in the snow I got that way. The 
supplies for Mr. Berry and myself included his clothes, 
my small furs, our stove and all our food, cost about $800 



jrg THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

and weighed about 2,000 pounds. We did not confine 
ourselves to a bean-and-bacon diet. We had plenty of 
canned meats, hams, bacon, dried fruits, and vegetables 
and all sorts of canned things besides. We arranged for 
as wholesome a diet as possible with canned goods. 

"It took us three months to travel from Juneau to 
Forty-Mile, a distance of about nine hundred miles, I 
think. We traveled ten or twelve and occasionally fifteen 
miles a day. We couldn't do more because the dogs 
wouldn't stand it. Up to the summit we carried our own 
stores, and on the other side hired Indians. We had fresh 
meat on the way — moose and caribou. 

"At first when I saw the dirty natives bringing it in their 
canoes I could not bring myself to eat it, but I soon changed 
my mind and got to like it. We prepared our meals by setting 
up our stove right on the ice, in the open sometimes, and at 
others pitched a tent and did our cooking under cover, 
then Tip stakes and on again. At night we pitched our 
tents, made a bed of boughs, put blankets on, rolled our- 
selves in blankets, covered ourselves with the fur robes and 
slept well. We had four pairs of heavy blankets, and I 
took two small pillows along. 

''Our bedding was always packed in an oil-skin cover, 
and so kept dry all the way. The best time made was 
across La Barge Lake. We crossed the thirty-six miles in 
a night. They put the tent upon the provision scow for 
me, and I went to bed in it and slept all the way across the 
Lewis River. We had to make such good time because we 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



159 



were afraid the ice would begin to run and the boats go 
under. 

"We had a fine sunshiny day to cross the summit, but 
we had to sit still and wait two weeks for it. We got to 
Forty-Mile in June and went to the Klondike in October. 
I stayed at the post, now Dawson City, while the boys 
went on to build a cabin. It took us two days to walk the 
nineteen miles to the diggings. There was about an inch 
of water on the ice and I slipped and slid in every direction 
going over. 

HOUSEKEEPING ON THE KLONDIKE. 

"When I got there the house had no door, windows or 
floor, and I had to stand around outside until a hole was 
cut for me to get in through. We had a two-room house, 
and after it was fixed up it was very comfortable for Klon- 
dike. The boys had a carpet and curtain sent over for me. 
We had all the camp-made furniture we needed, a bed and 
stove — a long, little sheet-iron affair, with two holes on top 
and a drum to bake in. The wood is so full of pitch — it's 
the meanest, knottiest, scrubbiest wood I ever saw — that 
the fire burns up and goes out if you turn your back on it 
for a minute. The water we used was all snow or ice, and 
had to be thawed. If any one wanted a drink, a chunk of 
ice had to be thawed and cooled again. 

The stores that were kept in the cache to save them from 
the wild animals were frozen, of course, and had to be 
thaw r ed out before being cooked. The things we wanted 
to keep from freezing we had to keep warm in the house. 



1 66 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Some wines and a case of champagne were sent us for 
Christmas and I had to keep them under my bed to save 
them from freezing. 

"The canned and dried things were very tiresome eating. 
We had fresh meat now and then and some beef, for last 
winter was the first time that beef was sent across the pass. 
We had a nice roast for our New Year dinner and fruit 
cake, mince pie and nuts and raisins, as well as the usual 
canned vegetables. 

"The men had hard times making bread, and I taught 
several of them how to make yeast bread. We could get 
hops and canned potatoes, and it was easy enough to make 
yeast, but how I did long for a raw potato — anything fresh 
and green. We didn't lack for visitors at the mines. I had 
nine to luncheon with me there before I even had a table 
to eat off, and one time it was so that strangers would come 
and eat — even come and take any food in sight, and bolt 
with it. We had some one staying at our house nearly 
every night, for people were always passing through, and 
they had to have shelter. 

HOW TO BATHE AT THE KLONDIKE. 

" The cabins didn't have all the modern improvements 
by any means; no porcelain tubs or hot or cold water. 
When we wanted a bath we melted ice, heated the water, 
got the pan in that we used for washing the gold and did 
our bathing in that. I was not sick once during all the 
time I was there, except slight indispositions, and I'm 






THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE i6l 

twenty-five pounds heavier now than when I went up, and 
feel better than ever. 

"I went out nearly every day when I had finished my 
housework. I would hunt the dumps for nuggets, or else 
pan gold. I'd have to melt the water for that, and at first 
I lost half the gold, but after a time I learned to get it all 
out. Things were very high part of the winter. At one 
time we paid $60 for a fifty-pound sack of flour, and 23 
cents a pound extra for portage, and were glad to get it. 
I paid $6 a yard for dress goods and $300 for having a skirt 
made. Oh, yes, there are dressmakers even up there. 
They sew for the natives — make the siwash red and blue 
satin dresses for them, all in the same style, a tight basque, 
buttoned straight down the front, and a skirt. 

" Eight months of the year it is dark up there, with only 
about four hours light each day. There is a gray twilight 
and the men work through that, but we often had to light 
the lamps at half-past 1 or 2 in the afternoon. We had oil 
lamps, but the majority use candles. 

WINTER IS HEALTHY. 

"In the winter the Yukon is one of the healthiest places 
for any one going there with sound health, but when the 
summer comes it is unhealthy. It is damp, the water is 
bad, it gets very hot, and the mosquitos are awful. 

" Coming away from the mines we made the distance 
between them and Dawson in one night, but the trail is so 
bad that, notwithstanding I wore a skirt only knee length, 
I was covered with mud to the waist. Dawson may have 



1 62 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

been a quiet city once, but when I came through it it was 
in such a rowdy state that it was impossible for me to go 
to my meals and I had to have them sent to me. Men and 
women — there were about fifty women there — were carous- 
ing continually. The people who follow on the heels of 
the good, steady-going, hard-working miners are among 
the worst up there. 

" There are good women, too, many who have gone with 
their husbands. On the Bonanza, near us, there is still a 
lovely, beautiful woman — Mrs. Galvin, of Helena, Mont. — 
and I was sorry to leave her when I came away. 

"Would I go to Yukon again? Never. lam glad I 
had the experience I really did. It was worth the rough- 
ing, but once is enough. I'll stay with my mother in Fresno 
when Mr. Berry goes back in the spring. He will only go 
from spring to fall after this. I'll stay down here and spend 
the money when he brings it out." 

ANOTHER BRAVE WOMAN. 

Mrs. Eli Gage, wife of the son of Lyman J. Gage, Sec- 
retary of the United States Treasury, was in the Klondike 
region when the great finds were made and knows all about 
the excitement, the stirring scenes and wonderful develop- 
ments of the winter of 1896 in that far-off northern 
country. 

Her husband is auditor of the North American Trans- 
portation and Trading Company and his duties are in 
Alaska. His wife will return in the spring in company 
with Clarence J. Berry and Frank Phiscator, two of the 




MRS. E. F. GAGE. 



164 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

most fortunate of the Klondike bonanza kings, with whom 
she returned on the treasure ship "Portland" in July. 
Her views in regard to the country and the doings of its 
people will be found of great interest. 

SHE LIKES FRONTIER LIFE. 

"It is wonderful how fascinating the life on the frontier 
becomes," she said the other morning. "The man or 
woman who gets a taste of it and succeeds and thrives by 
it rarely gets to like anything else. It may be a barbarous 
confession, but it seems to me that. the kindest, most con- 
siderate and most practically honest people that I ever met 
are the miners who are risking all at one throw in the work 
on the Klondike. It was here that I saw a code of honor 
which made all men honest — a life in which each man must 
live a fair part or get a forcible and roughly polite invita- 
tion to move. 

" It takes men of sturdy character to get into the valley, 
and the virtues which they cling to are ones from which 
they want no man to part. I do not think that I heard of 
a single case in my summer's stay in upper Alaska where 
prospectors and diggers had been guilty of dishonesty. It 
may be that honesty is a trait which thrives because it is 
backed by the point of a gun, but it is there nevertheless. 
Explorers going to the field or miners coming out fre- 
quently undertake greater loads than the teams can pull 
through. It is the custom at such times to put the surplus 
at the roadside and go on with half. The part left behind 
is perfectly safe until it shall be called for. I doubt that 



THE GOLD FIELDS Of THE KLONDIKE 



165 



this rule would work in Chicago or other civilized 
places." 

TREASURE BROUGHT BACK. 

"Mr. Phiscator and Mr. Berry were on the Portland — 
the ship which brought the $1,000,000 cargo of yellow 
metal into Seattle. It is not likely that one man in fifty 
could picture these two men as they are. The usual thing 
would be to have them half-savage, uncouth and hardened 
by a long season away from men and the world. This sort 
of description would not fit either in the slightest particular. 
They are both modest, decidedly bashful and lack all the 
traits which the tenderfoot gives to the real miner. They 
have no boastings to make — and this in face of the fact 
that it is more than likely the next year will prove they are 
among the richest men in this country. 

"It is probable that they were the money kings of the 
Portland, although the ship's safe and the captain's state- 
room were filled to overflowing with the earnings of other 
members of the passenger crew. It was like an actual 
representation of the air castles of fairyland. There was 
gold stacked upon gold, nuggets and in dust, tied up in old 
sacks and held in bottles with the corks sealed. I asked 
the captain if he did not fear to carry such a load of pure 
money. He said he feared nothing so long as he knew he 
had no one aboard but miners. 

FROM POVERTY TO AFFLUENCE. 

" It was most interesting to study the men and women 
who had taken the desperate chance and had won. Some 
of them had gone into the region with barely enough to 



1 66 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

keep body and soul together. They had only made the 
try as a last resort. Having failed to make a success at 
home, they had resolved to make one plunge and die or 
come out rich. The most pathetic case of this kind was 
that of Mr. and Mrs. Berry. They went into the Klon- 
dike without even a grub-stake. They were on their 
wedding tour, and when they left they told their friends 
they might never get back to Fresno alive. 

"This pair sat on the deck of the Portland fifteen 
months after their departure, and their plans embraced 
bigger things than scheming to find a man who would loan 
them $60 while they risked their lives trying to get over 
the mountains and into the placer district. They were like 
two children, Mr. Berry planning to buy the farm upon 
which he had been unable to make living wages, and Mrs. 
Berry getting ideas on the newest things in diamond rings. 
She had been forced to omit this feature of the ceremony 
when they started for Alaska, but like all women she was 
pleased that the ring could now be bought. 

GOLD IN ALMOST UNLIMITED QUANTITIES. 

"It is evident from the conversation that I had with 
Mr. Berry and Mr. Phiscator that gold is going to be dug 
in Alaska in almost unlimited quantities. They were both 
a year in the center of the gold fields — that is, the center 
as it exists to-day. They were positive that the claims 
that had been staked out were only a small fraction of the 
claims that are going to pay big money. The prospectors 
in the district have not failed to find paying dirt in a single 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



167 



spot where a good search has been made. They said they 
had no idea how long or how wide the territory would 
prove to be, since no one has found the ends of the profit- 
able veins. 

"There are many claims along the best-known creeks 
that have been abandoned. The prospectors would be 
digging on them contentedly, earning big money every 
day. There would then come a report from some neigh- 
boring place of fabulously rich finds and there would follow 
at once a wild rush. In this way sites that paid moderate- 
ly were passed in the search of others that would banish 
poverty in a month. The two kings of the region were 
wise enough to profit by the craze which carried the men 
along and they bought claim after claim along the Bonanza 
and the Eldorado. I do not think any man on earth can 
guess how much these men are worth to-day. They would 
be millionaires to stay at home the balance of their lives 
and sell interests in the mines they now have in operation. 

BEST MINES STILL TO BE FOUND. 

" Experts say that the best mines are still to be found. 
It is an old saying that the existence of the placer mine 
merely shows that not far away the mother rock must be 
found. It looks as if the gold in the loose dirt about 
the creeks had been brought down from the mountains by 
some great glacier. The men who have gone in and are 
going in have no capital for machinery and the placer min- 
ing is the only kind they can undertake. The late comers 
and the men with money for machinery will probably 



l68 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

search for quartz veins and get bigger fortunes with but 
comparatively small expenditures. It is reported by gov- 
ernment officials and everybody else that the whole coun- 
try is gold producing and the work of 10,000 men who will 
be able to get there within the next twelve months will not 
begin to exhaust the resources. 

WILL TRY THE OVERLAND ROUTE. 

" It is considerable of a venture for a woman to resolve 
to try to reach Dawson City by the overland route, but I 
think I can do it. We will start from Juneau the last of 
April. Mrs. Berry went over the pass a year ago and I am 
anxious to have the experience. It is no easy task, but the 
dangers can be reduced to a minimum by wise prepara- 
tions. The thing to do there, as every place else, is to do 
as the Romans do. It being a rather sensible conclusion 
that the Indians who have been following the trail for years 
and years have learned the best methods, I shall try to do 
very much as the Indians do. 

HOW SHE WILL DRESS. 

"The weather at the beginning of the trip is likely to be 
very cold. I shall wear a bearskin hood and short skirts. 
There is then a serviceable garment, made of sealskin, with 
the fur inside. It serves as stockings. The shoes are 
moccasins made of rough leather, lined with thick woolen 
insoles. Snowshoes are indispensable for part of the way. 
Gloves of bearskin can be had from the natives and there 
is no storm that can penetrate the blankets of the Siwash 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



I69 



Indians. We shall carry a small tent, trusting to the hem- 
lock boughs for the beds. 

"One of the hardships of the long tramp over the hills 
and along the frozen lakes comes from the lack of fresh 
meats. Game is scarce, and the Indians supply most of the 
moose and caribou. The flesh is frozen, and before it is 
cooked must be thawed out and cleaned. The natives 
riave the crudest ideas of cleanliness. It takes some time 
to get accustomed to their ways, but necessity breeds for- 
giveness and forgetfulness as well. I fear nothing on the 
trip save the Chilkoot Pass, and at this time of year the 
chances are that we will have but little trouble. There 
will be much travel over it during the fall and coming 
winter, and the way will be greatly improved by the time 
we are ready to undertake it." 






CHAPTER XIL 

THE CLIMATE. 



THOSE WHO GO TO THE KLONDIKE MUST PREPARE FOR COLD 

WEATHER. 

Neither those who think that "Alaska is not so cold 
after all " nor those whose imagination pictures eight 
months of weather 90 degrees below zero are correct. At 
times the cold is intense, and of the winter of 1895-6, 
which was a severe one, Mr. William Ogilvie, the Domin- 
ion surveyor, reports: 

" After my return there was some fine clear weather in 
January, but it was exceedingly cold, more than 60 degrees 
below zero, one night 68.5 degrees, and as I had both my 
ears pretty badly frozen and could not go out in such cold 
without having them covered, so that I could not hear the 
chronometer beat, I could not observe until the end of the 
month, when we had two fine nights — 29th and 30th — mild 
enough for me to work." 

UNITED STATES REPORT. 

A more exhaustive and complete statement of the cli- 
matic conditions of that region is contained in a United 
States Government report prepared under the direction of 

170 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



171 



the Secretary of Agriculture by Willis L. Moore, Chief of 
the Weather Bureau. He says: 

"The climates of the coast and interior of Alaska are 
unlike in many respects, and the differences are intensified 
in this, as perhaps in few other countries, by exceptional 
physical conditions. The fringe of islands that separates 
the mainland from the Pacific Ocean, from Dixon Sound 
north, and also a strip of the mainland for possibly twenty 
miles back from the sea, following the sweep of the coast 
as it curves to the northwestward to the western extremity 
of Alaska, form a distinct climatic division which may be 
termed temperate Alaska. The temperature rarely falls to 
zero; winter does not set in until December 1, and by the 
last of May the snow has disappeared except on the moun- 
tains. The mean winter temperature of Sitka is 32.5, 
but little less than that of Washington, D. C. 

" The rainfall of temperate Alaska is notorious the world 
over, not only as regards the quantity, but also as to the 
manner of its falling, viz., in long and incessant rains and 
drizzles. Cloud and fog naturally abound, there being on 
an average but sixty clear days in the year. 

" North of the Aleutian Islands the coast climate becomes 
more rigorous in winter, but in summer the difference is 
much less marked. 

CLIMATE OF THE INTERIOR. 

"The climate of the interior, including in that designa- 
tion practically all of the country except a narrow fringe 1 



172 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



coastal margin and the territory before referred to as tem- 
perate Alaska, is one of extreme rigor in winter, with a 
brief but relatively hot summer, especially when the sky 
is free from cloud. 

" In the Klondike region in midwinter the sun rises from 
9:30 to 10 a. m., and sets from 2 to 3 p. m., the total length 
of daylight being about four hours. Remembering that 
the sun rises but a few degrees above the horizon and that 
it is wholly obscured on a great many days, the character 
of the winter months may be easily imagined. 

"We are indebted to the United States coast and geo- 
detic survey for a series of six months' observations on the 
Yukon, not far from the present site of the gold discov- 
eries. The observations were made with standard instru- 
ments and are wholly reliable. The mean temperatures of 
the months from October, 1889, to April, 1890, both inclu 
sive, are as follows: 



Degrees. 

October 33 

November 8 

December -11 

January -17 



Degrees. 

February -15 

March 6 

April 20 



" The daily mean temperature fell and remained below 
the freezing point (32 degrees) from Nov. 4, 1889, to April 
21, 1890, thus giving 168 days as the length of the closed 
season of 1889-90, assuming that outdoor operations are 
controlled by temperature only. The lowest temperatures 
registered during the winter were 32 degrees below zero in 
November, 47 below in December, 59 below in January, $5 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



173 



below in February, 45 below in March, and 26 below in 
April. The greatest continuous cold occurred in February, 
1890, when the daily mean for five consecutive days was 
47 degrees below zero. 

HAS BEEN COLDER IN UNITED STATES. 

" Greater cold than that here noted has been experi- 
enced in the United States for a very short time. In the 
interior of Alaska the winter sets in as early as September, 
when snowstorms may be expected in the mountains and 
passes. Headway during one of those storms is impos- 
sible, and the traveler who is overtaken by one of them is 
indeed fortunate if he escapes with his life. Snowstorms 
of great severity occur in any month from September to 
May inclusive. 

"The changes of temperature from winter to summer 
are rapid, owing to the great increase in the length of the 
day. In May the sun rises at about 3 a. m. and sets about 
9 p. m. In June it rises about 1:30 in the morning and 
sets at about 10:30 at night, giving about twenty hours of 
daylight and diffuse twilight the remainder of the time. 

"The mean summer temperature in the interior doubtless 
ranges between 60 and 70 degrees, according to elevation, 
being highest in the middle and lower Yukon valleys." 



CHAPTER XIII. 
GOLD AND ITS DISTRIBUTION. 



QUARTZ AND PLACERS HOW THE GOLD CAME TO THE 

KLONDIKE. 

Gold has been an object of interest to mankind from the 
earliest ages of civilization. In placers it is found almost 
pure, although seldom entirely so, and nearly every nug- 
get contains some silver, copper, or other metals. The 
gold from the Yukon is not as valuable as the product of 
California, the Klondike gold having from fifty to one hun- 
dred points more base metal. The base metals found in 
combination with this gold are iron, lead and silver, the 
iron giving the Yukon gold its fine, rich color. Of course 
these other metals decrease the value of the gold, which is 
about a dollar per ounce less than that of California gold. 
In the latter state nuggets run from $18 to $19 per ounce, 
and gold dust never less than $17 per ounce, while the 
Yukon product is valued at $17 to $18 per ounce for nug- 
gets and $16 to $17 per ounce for gold dust. 

GOLD IN MINERAL VEINS. 

While gold is distributed in many ways, its original state 
is in mineral veins, combined with various kinds of rocks, 

174 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



"75 



usually quartz, in bodies called "ledges" or 'Modes" of 
varying width, between walls of stone of the surrounding 
formation, which is known as "country rock." These 
ledges are rarely perpendicular, but have a slanting direc- 
tion, and the upper wall is therefore known as the " hang- 
ing wall "of the mine, the lower wall being the "foot 
wall." The quartz or other rock containing the gold and 
confined between the walls is called the "gangue." 

Ore taken from a vein must be separated from the rock, 
and if the gold in it is not largely combined with base met- 
als it is called "free milling ore," and the gold may be 
most easily procured by crushing the rock in a quartz mill, 
which is done by means of heavy stamps operated by 
power. When crushed as fine as possible it is transferred 
to pan amalgamators — large iron receptacles in which 
heavy iron grinders revolve, grinding the pulverized rock 
between flat surfaces until it becomes a fine mud, water 
being mingled with the mass. With this mixture quick- 
silver is used, the particles of gold adhering to the quick- 
silver and forming what is known as "amalgam." The 
dirt is washed from the amalgam in various ways, and then 
the latter is placed in a retort, which is heated until the 
quicksilver separates itself from the gold. 

If the gold is in combination with other metals several 
processes are employed, such as smelting, etc., and the 
resulting product is called " base bullion." Various chem- 
ical means have been employed to separate the gold from 



176 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



the baser metals, the agent used depending upon the min- 
erals contained in the composite mass. 

NEW REDUCTION PROCESSES. 

Formerly the great expense in the extraction of gold 
from free milling ore consisted in the loss of mercury by 
what was called "flouring." When this occurred the par- 
ticles of quicksilver lost their property of coalescing with 
and taking up the gold, and the frequent renewal of quick- 
silver made the cost heavy. It has, however, been discov- 
ered that this deterioration of the mercury can be almost 
completely prevented by the use of cyanide of potassium, 
and this "cyanide process " has greatly reduced the cost 
of procuring gold from ore, making it profitable to work 
mines which would be worthless if treated in the old way. 

Under any circumstances, however, the mining of quartz 
is an expensive process, requiring capital and machinery, 
so that prospectors whose means are limited must, if they 
discover quartz mines, sell them, or an interest in them, to 
capitalists. 

GOLD IN PLACERS. 

In contra-distinction to the quartz mine is the placer 
mine, which is popularly called a "poor man's mine," be- 
cause, if a paying claim is located, the owner can work it 
himself, needing nothing for his success except a pick, 
shovel, pan, water and a supply of food. 

Placer gold, in its various forms, is merely the waste of 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



17: 



gold in ledges, separated and ground by volcanic, glacial 
or hydraulic action and finally deposited in alluvial soil, 
sand or gravel. The distribution of gold in veins is very 
wide, but on the continent of America is especially great 




KLONDIKE MINER IN WINTER ATTIRE. 



in the Pacific Coast ranges of mountains which, in the 
broader sense, may be considered as one chain, extending 
from Patagonia to the Arctic Sea. Along the entire re- 
gion of these mountains, including the Rocky Mountain 



I78 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

and Sierra Nevada ranges in North America and the Andes 
and Cordilleras in South America, gold has been found at 
all points. Large deposits of alluvial gold indicate that at 
some period it has been ground out of the vein in which it 
belonged by some of nature's forces and transported by 
others. A strong geological theory is that all the various 
veins of gold-bearing quartz are more or less disconnected 
spurs of some great "mother lode " and that this lode ex- 
ists in some part of the great Pacific chain. Von Hum- 
boldt believed that the mother vein would prove to be in 
Alaska, and the unprecedented richness of the deposits on 
the Klondike make that theory a most probable one. 

GOLD GROUND BY GLACIERS. 

When glacial or other action has separated gold from 
the vein and begun its distribution, the remainder of the 
work is done by the action of water. The mountain 
streams, swollen to rapid action by rain or melted snow, 
carry along dirt, sand and gravel with the gold. The 
gravel and gold settle on the bottom of the creek and 
above that sand and dirt in which a comparatively small 
amount of gold may be found. Usually the largest amount 
of gold is in the gravel bottom, central to the course of the 
stream, but in the settling, bars may have been formed by 
the heavier stones in the gravel, which have caught the 
gold in especially large quantities, these rich masses being 
known as "pockets," and there may be crevices in the bed- 
rock, in which case these are most likely receptacles for 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



i/9 



deposits of gold. When the gold is carried along by the 
force of water its great weight causes it to sink as soon as 
the impelling force of the water relaxes sufficiently to 
allow the law of gravitation to work. The coarser parti- 
cles are left high up the stream, the finer ones traveling 
further and being deposited in the bed or bars of the lower 
creek or river. Subsequent floods or freshets repeat the 
operation of distributing the gold, and the final result is 
extensive deposits of gold in gravel, sand and earth in 
gulches, creeks and rivers. 

NUGGETS AND DUST. 

Gold lumps of about half an ounce or more are called 
"nuggets;" when the particles are fine they are called 
"dust;" and sizes between these two are designated as 
" coarse gold," the latter frequently being interspersed with 
nuggets. 

The gold workings on the Bonanza and Eldorado 
creeks in the Klondike region are of coarse gold. In this 
rich district not only in the gravel next to bedrock, but 
also above in the finer clay and sand, gold is found in pay- 
ing quantities. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
WORKING PLACER MINES. 



HOW GOLD IS TAKEN FROM THE GROUND IN THE KLONDIKE 

DISTRICT. 

In the Klondike region a very peculiar system of mining 
is in vogue. The ground is frozen from the bedrock to 
the surface in the winter, and never thaws out to any great 
depth. The surface is covered with glacial mud, upon 
which there is a thick mass of moss. The top of the 
ground is so thickly felted with this moss that the latter 
acts as an insulation, preventing the warm rays of the 24- 
hour sun from thawing the ground even in summer. 

The top " muck," as it is called by the miners, is, when 
thawed out, about two-thirds water and one-third sedi- 
ment. Its large percentage of moisture makes it impossi- 
ble to thaw it out with fire satisfactorily, so this portion 
has to be removed with a pick or blasted off. The latter 
process is, however, rarely employed, because of a scarcity 
of powder, so that it is usually removed with a pick. 

THAWING OUT THE GROUND. 

After this murky top layer is cleaned off the method is 
to build a huge fire, probably two feet wide and six or 
eight feet long. After this has burned six or eight hours 

180 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE J 8 1 

the ground beneath it is thawed sufficiently so that five or 
six inches of dirt can be taken out. This operation is re- 
peated, and it is found that the deeper one goes the more 
readily the ground thaws. 

The shafts are sunk until bedrock is reached. That is 
the bottom of the deposit, and on Bonanza creek it is en- 
countered at a depth of all the way from three to 20 feet. 
The pay streak is often 150 feet wide, and when bedrock 
is reached what is technically called " burning a breast " 
is resorted to. That, in plain English, consists in running 
a tunnel on a level through the pay streak. 

The ground is much more easily thawed in these tunnels, 
and it not infrequently happens that one burning thaws 
out fifteen feet. 

PLENTY OF WOOD FOR BURNING. 

There is an ample supply of wood in the Klondike re- 
gion, so that little difficulty has been experienced on that 
score, the maximum distance of wood from the mine being 
about three-quarters of a mile and most claims being much 
nearer than that to a good supply. 

As soon as the dirt is thawed out it is hauled to the sur- 
face and piled upon the dump. When the thawing weather 
arrives and the water comes down, the "sluicing" begins 
and the gold is washed from the gravel and dirt by the 
usual methods, hereafter described. 

The methods of mining in the winter have only been in- 
troduced into the Yukon during recent years and constitute 



l82 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

the novelty in the mining methods of that region as com- 
pared with those in vogue elsewhere. 

THE PROSPECTOR'S OUTFIT. 

In prospecting for mines the outfit required, besides food 
and cooking utensils, includes a pan, light pick, shovel 
and axe, and a machete for cutting out underbrush and 
other purposes will also be found of value. Creeks and 
gulches are tried in order to find gold, which is done by 
experimental digging and panning. As only one claim is 
allowed to each person on one creek (except that the dis- 
coverer is entitled to twice as much ground as the others) 
it is a matter of great importance to locate in the best 
ground possible. 

LOCATING THE CLAIM. 

The amount of ground one person may take is limited 
by general law as to the maximum, and may not be ex- 
ceeded. Miners' regulations may reduce the amount, but 
all are to be treated alike in the same district. Claims are 
numbered from the "Discovery Claim" consecutively — 
"No. i above" or "No. i below", etc. Thus, Clarence 
J. Berry's claim is described as "No. 5 above Discovery, 
Eldorado Creek." 

When located the ground should be measured off and 
staked and the locator is entitled, in the Klondike region, 
to 500 feet along the creek, and from rim to rim, the " rim" 
being the point on either bank where the " pay dirt " ter- 
minates or the bedrock emerges above the surface. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



WASHING OUT THE GOLD. 



'83 



After the dirt is taken out and when the water comes in 
the early summer, the washing out process commences. 
The primitive mode is to use a pan, which is large enough 
to hold two shovelfuls of "dirt" and allow for a bucketful 
or so of water. The dirt is washed by letting that which 
rises to the top drain off. The pan is shaken gently, water 
added as required, and the washing is kept up until most 
of the soluble portion has washed away. From time to 
time, as the water drains out, the operator looks at the res- 
iduum. Finally a gleam of yellow is seen at the bottom. 

The pan shows " color " ! 

So the miner designates it, and a most exciting thing is 
this looking for the "color" when prospecting for new 
mines. 

TAKING OUT THE GOLD. 

After the color shows, the final washing is given and the 
coarse gravel picked out, while the finer sand washes away. 
The "dust" secured is put a\vay in the sack. Sometimes 
a smaller pan is used for the final washing. 

On a larger scale other appliances are used. One of 
these is the "cradle," so called because it is mounted on 
rockers to give it the required motion. It has a moveable 
hopper with a perforated bottom, or "riddle-plate," of 
sheet-iron, in which the " pay dirt " is placed. Water is 
poured on the dirt, and the rocking motion imparted to 
the cradle causes the finer particles to pass through the 



1 84 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



holes on to a canvas screen, and thence to the base of the 
cradle, which is crossed by bars of wood called "riffles" 
which catch the auriferous particles. 

Another device is the " torn," a kind of cradle which has 
a perforated riddle-plate immediately over the "riffle box," 
and has the riffles arranged on an inclined plane, the in- 
clination being one foot in twelve. The riffle box of the 
"torn" is longer than that of the common cradle. 

"SLUICING OUT" GOLD. 

For larger washings the method is by sluicing. The 
" sluice-boxes " are troughs about 12 feet long, 12 to 20 
inches wide and 12 inches deep. They are made tapering 
so as to be joined in series, and the total length depends 
upon the amount and shape of the ground, but often runs 
several hundred feet. The size of the sluice boxes should 
be regulated by the width of the available lumber, as it is 
not desirable to have the bottom made of more than one 
width of plank. 

The sluice boxes are placed at an incline varying from 
one in eight to one in sixteen. The floor of the boxes is 
laid with riffles, or pieces of 2 x 2 lumber laid parallel with 
the side and with notched planks laid transversely. These 
riffles catch the auriferous particles and are panned out at 
regular intervals, the "clean-up" ordinarily being made 
once a week, but oftener where the ground is very rich — 
sometimes daily. 

If the gold is very fine, mercury is used above the notched 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



185 



planks to catch the minute particles and the amalgam thus 
formed is separated in the ordinary way, as described in 
the account of quartz milling. 

There are numerous other ways of working gold, but 




MINE IN KLONDIKE REGION. 

Showing sluice-boxes in place. 

they are only used by companies operating on a large scale, 
and are not in vogue in the Yukon districts. 



PREPARATIONS FOR MINING. 



Before beginning to work the claim it is necessary to 
build a house and to prepare for winter. In all of the 



1 86 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

Klondike region logs are plentiful. They should be well 
squared so as to make the interstices between the logs as 
small as possible, and the cracks should be well filled with 
the moss which grows all around. The roof is made of 
poles placed close together, then covered with moss, with 
a layer of dirt above. It can be so securely felted in this 
way as to make a tight and comfortable roof. 

FITTING UP THE CABIN. 

The interior of the cabin will be fitted up according to 
the ability of the occupant. A small sash will be required 
for light, and another outside sash will be needed in the 
winter. If the miner can not afford a floor he goes with- 
out. If he has any luck with hunting, a few skins on the 
floor make excellent rugs. Hemlock boughs, which are 
plentiful, make a good bed for one who is "roughing it," 
and keep the body away from the dampness of the ground. 
Of course the sheet-iron stove is a necessity of the cabin, 
and a good supply of wood for winter is one of the things 
to look out for. 

For the meats which one does not care to keep in the 
house a "cache" should be built, for Master Bruin (to say 
nothing of foxes and wolves) is likely to come around when 
all is quiet and claim a share of the provender. 

WINTER WORK. 

In the winter much work can be done under ground. It 
is not necessary to work long at a time above the ground 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



187 



in hauling the dirt to the surface to be dumped ; and below 
ground it is much warmer, because there one is sheltered 
from the cold wind. Our miner will need a lantern, 
because in the winter an hour or two of daylight is the 
most that can be hoped for. 

NIGHT IN THE CAMP. 

The hours of work can be regulated to suit the condi- 
tions. At night, when the Aurora Borealis is flashing and 
scintillating in the north, the best place is the inside of the 
cabin, where, with his partner (every miner should have a 
partner), the prospective millionaire can tell his day 
dreams, or if he has a book, can read. If he wants a drink 
of cheering stuff he will find coffee or tea the best. Under 
any conditions of work or idleness whisky is the worst 
thing a Yukoner can drink in either the summer or winter 
climate of that country, and the surest bar to the success 
of the hopes he brought with him. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THE LAW AND THE MINER. 



HOW THE PROSPECTOR MUST PROCEED TO GET HIS CLAIM. 

Part of the Yukon region is in the territory of the United 
States and part in that of Canada. There seems to be an 
idea abroad that there is a boundary dispute in regard to 
the ownership of the recently discovered mines in the Klon- 
dike region, but there is none. 

DISPUTED BOUNDARY. 

There is a difference of claims in regard to the title to 
the lands in the vicinity of Dyea, Juneau and the coastline 
of Alaska west to the 141st degree of longitude. It is 
admitted that the United States took all the title that 
Russia had, but the dispute is as to where the line runs. 
If the United States claim should be upheld the line 
crosses Alsek river and crosses the northeast end of Chil- 
coot Pass at the head of Lake Lindermann, a small 
lake to the south of Lake Bennett, and thence runs south- 
east. The British claim that the line runs from Mount St. 
Elias down to Glacier Bay, crosses Muir Glacier peninsula 
and Lynn Canal, and runs back of Juneau only a few 
miles, taking in St. Mary's Island, on which there is a 

188 



190 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



United States custom house. This dispute will probably 
be settled without friction, as it is a question of construc- 
tion to be placed on a legal document and only affects the 
Klondike matter by its bearing on the route to the mines, 
because the British claim takes in Dyea and Chilcoot 
Pass. 

KLONDIKE IS IN CANADA. 

As to the Klondike region itself there is no dispute. The 
line s the 141st degree of west longitude, and Dawson 
City is more than a full degree to the east of it. There are 
rich gold-bearing streams on the American side of the line, 
and some of these creeks, like Forty-Mile, have their head 
in American and their mouth in British territory. But so 
far as the Klondike region is concerned the American miner 
going in will have to submit to Canadian law, some parts 
of which are very good, while the remainder is very 
arbitrary. 

MUST PAY DUTY. 

On the route to the mines the miner who goes in with 
goods bought in the United States will be subject to the 
customs laws of the Dominion, the Canadian government 
having appointed D. W. Davis customs officer for the dis- 
trict embracing the Northwest Territory. 

LAW IN DAWSON CITY. 

When the prospector arrives in Dawson City he will find 
two authorities who are in their special departments su- 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



I 9 I 



preme. One is the Mounted Police, having charge of the 
law and order of the district, pursuing a liberal policy but 
keeping excesses well in hand. The other is the Gold 




CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE. 



Commissioner, who, under Canadian law, has charge of 
the administration of the mining laws, the settlement of 
disputed claims, and, in fact, all that pertains to the loca- 
tion, entry, working and title to mines. 



I92 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

In regard to the maintenance of law and order in the 
district the Dominion government has recently decided to 
add eighty men to the twenty already on the force of 
Mounted Police. 

POLICE OFFICERS MAGISTRATES. 

The officers of each detachment of police will be ap- 
pointed stipendary magistrates, so that means will be fur- 
nished for the administration of law and order promptly 
and satisfactorily. A strong customs and police post will 
be established a short distance north of the 60th degree of 
latitude, just above the northern boundary of British 
Columbia, and beyond the head of the Lynn Canal, where 
the Chilkoot Pass and the White Pass converge. This 
post will command the southern entrance to the whole of 
that territory. A strong detachment of police will be 
stationed there, and the necessary barrack accommodations 
will be erected. Further on small police posts will be 
established, about fifty miles apart, up to Fort Selkirk. 

TELEGRAPH LINE PROJECTED. 

If it is possible to construct a telegraph line from the 
head of the Lynn Canal over the mountains to the first 
post just north of the British Columbia boundary, it would 
overcome the great present drawback of lack of means of 
winter communication with the Klondike. It is accord- 
ingly the intention of the government to ascertain the 
probable cost of the construction of such a line, and if the 




11 





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THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



193 



project is found to be feasible, to put it into execution. 
The government proposes also at once to get the approxi- 
mate cost of a wagon road and of a narrow gauge railroad 
over the territory between the coast and the post beyond 
the mountains. The provisions of the Real Property act 
of the Northwest Territories will be extended to the Yukon 
country by an order in council, a Register will be ap- 
pointed, and a land title office will be established. 

ROYALTY TO BE PAID. 

The question of the amount of the royalty which the 
Dominion government will exact from all ore taken from 
the soil has also been decided upon. This royalty will be 
10 per cent on all amounts taken out of any one claim up 
to $500 a month, and after that 20 per cent. This royalty 
will be collected on gold taken from streams already being 
worked, but in regard to all future discoveries the govern- 
ment proposes that upon every river and creek where min- 
ing locations shall be staked out every alternate claim shall 
be the property of the government. 

FEES FOR THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT. 

The last provision is an addition to the already established 
charge of $15 registration fee and $100 annual rental already 
being collected under the laws now in force. It is a most 
stringent and illiberal provision, excelling in its severity 
any ever before imposed in either British or United States 
territory. It is in especially strong contrast to the policy that 



194 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



has always characterized the dealings of the United States 
with those who have braved frontier dangers in the devel- 
opment of the mining regions. There is no discrimination 
in the new regulations between Canadians and others, but 
the extortionate imposts oppress all alike. 

The following are the laws of Canada pertaining to the 
location of mines in the Northwest Territory of Canada, 
and applicable in the Klondike District. 

PLACER MINING, 

REGISTRATION AND FEES. 

At the close of the second sitting of the Canadian cabinet 
recently it was announced that the government had decided 
to impose a royalty on all placer diggings on the Yukon in 
addition to $15 registration fee and $100 annual assessment. 
The royalty will be 10 per cent each on claims with an out- 
put of $500 or less monthly, and 20 per cent on every claim 
yielding above that amount monthly. Besides this royalty 
it has been decided, in regard to all future claims staked 
out on other streams or rivers, that every alternate claim 
should be the property of the government, and should be 
reserved for public purposes and sold or worked by the 
government for the benefit of the revenue of the dominion. 

NATURE AND SIZE OF CLAIMS. 

For ''bar diggings" — a strip of land 100 feet wide at 
high water mark, and thence extending into the river at its 
lowest water level. 

For "dry diggings'' — one hundred feet square. 

For "creek and river claims " — five hundred feet along 
the direction of the stream, extending in width from base 
to base of the hill or bench on either side. The width of 
such claims, however, is limited to 600 feet when the 
benches are a greater distance apart than that. In such a 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



195 



case claims are laid out in areas of ten acres, with bounda- 
ries running north and south, east and west. 

For " bench claims" — one hundred feet square. 

Size of claims to discoverers or parties of discoverers — 
to one discoverer, 300 feet in length; to a party of two, 
600 feet in length; to a party of three, 800 feet in length; 
to a party of four, 1,000 feet in length; to a party of more 
than four, ordinary sized claims only. 

New strata of auriferous gravel in a locality where claims 
are abandoned, or dry diggings discovered in the vicinity 
of bar diggings, or vice versa, shall be deemed new mines. 

RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MINERS 

Entries of grants for placer mining must be renewed and 
entry fee paid every year. 

No miner shall receive more than one claim in the same 
locality, but may hold any number of claims by purchase, 
and any number of miners may unite to work their claims 
in common, provided an agreement be duly registered and 
a registration fee of $5 be duly paid therefor. 

Claims may be mortgaged or disposed of, provided such 
disposal be registered and a registration fee of $2 be paid 
therefor. 

Although miners shall have exclusive right of entry upon 
their claims for the " miner-like " working of them, hold- 
ers of adjacent claims shall be granted such right of entry 
thereon as may seem reasonable to the superintendent of 
mines. 

Each miner shall be entitled to so much of thewater not 
previously appropriated flowing through or past his claim 
as the superintendent of mines shall deem necessary to 
work it, and shall be entitled to drain his own claim free 
of charge. 

Claims remaining unworked on working days for seventy- 
two hours are deemed abandoned, unless sickness or other 
reasonable cause is shown or unless the grantee is absent 
on leave. 

For the convenience of miners on back claims, on benches 



I96 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

or slopes, permission may be granted by the superintend- 
ent of mines to tunnel through claims fronting on water 
course. 

In case of the death of a miner, the provisions of aban- 
donment do not apply during his last illness or after his 
decease. 

ACQUISITION OF MINING LOCATIONS. 

MARKING OF LOCATIONS. 

Wooden posts 4 inches square, driven 18 inches into the 
ground and projecting 18 inches above it, must mark the 
four corners of a location. In rocky ground stone mounds 
3 feet in diameter may be piled about the post. In tim- 
bered land well-blazed lines must join the posts. In roll- 
ing or uneven localities flattened posts must be placed at 
intervals along the lines to mark them, so that subsequent 
explorers shall have no trouble in tracing such lines. 

When locations are bounded by lines running north and 
south, east and west, the stake at the northeast corner 
shall be marked by a cutting instrument or by colored 
chalk, "M. L. No. 1" (mining location, stake number 1). 
Likewise the southeasterly stake shall be marked " M. L. 
No. 2," the southwesterly " M. L. No. 3" and the north- 
westerly "M. L. No. 4." Where the boundary lines do 
not run north and south, east and west, the northerly stake 
shall be marked 1, the easterly 2, the southerly 3 and the 
westerly 4. On each post shall be marked also the claim- 
ant's initials and the distance to the next post. 

APPLICATION AND AFFIDAVIT OF DISCOVERER. 

Within sixty days after marking his location the claim- 
ant shall file in the office of the dominion land office for 
the district a formal declaration, sworn to before the land 
agent, describing as nearly as may be the locality and 
dimensions of the location. With such declaration he 
must pay the agent an entry fee of $5. 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



RECEIPT ISSUED TO DISCOVERER. 



197 



Upon such payment the agent shall grant a receipt au- 
thorizing the claimant, or his legal representative, to enter 
into possession, subject to renewal every year for five 
years, provided that in these five years $100 shall be 
expended on the claim in actual mining operations. A 
detailed statement of such expenditure must also be filed 
with the agent of dominion lands, in the form of an affidavit 
corroborated by two reliable and disinterested witnesses. 

ANNUAL RENEWAL OF LOCATION CERTIFICATE. 

Upon payment of the $5.00 fee therefore a receipt shall 
be issued entitling the claimant to hold the location for 
another year. 

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP. 

Any party of four or less neighboring miners, within 
three months after entering, may, upon being authorized 
by the agent, make upon any one of such locations, during 
the first and second years, but not subsequently, the ex- 
penditure otherwise required on each of the locations. An 
agreement, however, accompanied by a fee of $5.00 must 
be filed with the agent. Provided, however, that the ex- 
penditure made upon any one location shall not be appli- 
cable in any manner or for any purpose to any other loca- 
tion. 

PURCHASE OF LOCATION. 

At any time before the expiration of five years from date 
of entry a claimant may purchase a location upon filing 
with the agent proof that he has expended $500 in actual 
mining operations on the claim and complied with all other 
prescribed regulations. The price of a mining location 
shall be $5.00 per acre, cash. 

On making an application to purchase, the claimant 
must deposit with the agent $50.00, to be deemed as pay- 
ment to the government for the survey of his location. On 
receipt of plans and field notes and approval by the sur- 
veyor-general a patent shall issue to the claimant. 



Iq8 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



REVERSION OF TITLE. 

Failure of a claimant to prove within each year the ex- 
penditure prescribed, or failure to pay the agent the full 
cash price, shall cause the claimant's right to lapse and the 
location to revert to the crown, along with the improve- 
ments upon it. 

RIVAL CLAIMANTS. 

When two or more persons claim the same location, the 
right to acquire it shall be in him who can prove he was 
the first to discover the mineral deposit involved, and to 
take possession in the prescribed manner. Priority of dis- 
covery alone, however shall not give the right to acquire. 
A subsequent discoverer, who has complied with other 
prescribed conditions, shall take precedence over a prior 
discoverer who has failed so to comply. 

When a claimant has in bad faith used the prior discov- 
ery of another and has fraudulently affirmed that he made 
independent discovery and demarcation, he shall, apart 
from other legal consequences, have no claim, forfeit his 
deposit and be absolutely debarred from obtaining another 
location. 

RIVAL APPLICANTS. 

Where there are two or more applicants for a mining lo- 
cation, neither of whom is the original discoverer, the min- 
ister of the interior may invite competitive tenders or put 
it up for public auction, as he sees fit. 

TRANSFER OF MINING RIGHTS. 

ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHT TO PURCHASE. 

An assignment of the right to purchase a location shall 
be indorsed on the back of the receipt or certificate of as- 
signment, and execution thereof witnessed by two disinter- 
ested witnesses. Upon the deposit of such receipt in the 
office of the land agent, accompanied by a registration fee 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



199 



of $2, the agent shall give the assignee a certificate en- 
titling him to all the rights of the original discoverer. By 
complying with the prescribed regulations such assignee 
becomes entitled to purchase the location. 

QUARTZ MINING. 

Regulations in respect to placer mining, so far as they 
relate to entries, entry fees, assignments, marking of loca- 
tions, agents' receipts, etc., except where otherwise pro- 
vided, apply also to quartz mining. 

NATURE AND SIZE OF CLAIMS. 

A location shall not exceed the following dimensions: 
Length, 1,500 feet; breadth, 600 feet. The surface bound- 
aries shall be from straight parallel lines, and its bound- 
aries beneath the surface the planes of these lines. 

LIMIT TO NUMBER OF LOCATIONS. 

Not more than one mining location shall be granted to 
any one individual claimant upon the same lode or vein. 

MILL SITES. 

Land used for milling purposes may be applied for and 
patented, either in connection with or separate from a min- 
ing location, and may be held in addition to a mining loca- 
tion, provided such additional land shall in no case exceed 
five acres. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

DECISION OF DISPUTES. 

The superintendent of mines shall have power to hear 
and determine all disputes in regard to mining property 
arising within his district, subject to appeal by either of 
the parties to the commissioner of dominion lands. 



200 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 
LEAVE OF ABSENCE. 

Each holder of a mining location shall be entitled to be 
absent and suspend work on his diggiDgs during the 
" close" season, which " close" season shall be declared 
by the agent in each district, under instructions from the 
minister of the interior. 

The agent may grant a leave of absence pending the 
decision of any dispute before him. 

Any miner is entitled to a year's leave of absence upon 
proving expenditure of not less than $200 without any 
reasonable return of gold. 

The time occupied by a locator in going to and returning 
from the office of the agent or of the superintendent of 
mines shall not count against him. 

ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS. 

The minister of the interior may grant to a person 
actually developing a location an adjoining location equal 
in size, provided it be shown to the minister's satisfaction 
that the vein being worked will probably extend beyond 
the boundaries of the original location. 

FORFEITURE. 

In event of the breach of the regulations, a right or grant 
shall be absolutely forfeited, and the offending party shall 
be incapable of subsequently acquiring similar rights, ex- 
cept by special permission by the minister of the interior. 



UNITED STATES MINING LAW. 
Those who locate upon the American side of the line, 
which includes the rich Birch Creek mines, the mines on 
the headwaters of Sixty-Mile and Forty-Mile Creeks, the 
American Creek, the Tanana River and a vast number of 
other streams, will find their rights and privileges well 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



20I 



set forth in the following synopsis, which was prepared by 
Charles M. Walker for the Chicago Ti?nes-Herald: 




"ROCKING OUT GOLD ON THE KLONDIKE. 



PLACER CLAIM DEFINED. 

The term "placer claim," as denned by the supreme 
court of the United States, is: "Ground within defined 
boundaries which contains mineral in its earth, sand or 
gravel; ground that includes valuable deposits not in place. 



202 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

that is, not fixed in rock, but which are in a loose state, and 
may in most cases be collected by washing or amalgama- 
tion without milling." 

SIZE OF QUARTZ AND PLACER CLAIMS. 

The manner of locating placer mining claims differs from 
that of locating claims upon veins or lodes. In locating a 
vein or lode claim the United States statutes provide that 
no claim shall extend more than 300 feet on each side of 
the middle of the vein at the surface, and that no claim 
shall be limited by mining regulations to less than 25 feet 
on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface. In 
locating claims called "placers," however, the law pro- 
vides that no location of such claim upon surveyed lands 
shall include more than twenty acres for each individual 
claimant. The supreme court, however, has held that one 
individual can hold as many locations as he can purchase 
and rely upon his possessory title; that a separate patent 
for each location is unnecessary. 

PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP. 

Locators, however, have to show proof of citizenship or 
intention to become citizens. This may be done in the 
case of an individual by his own affidavit; in the case of an 
association incorporated by a number of individuals by the 
affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowl- 
edge or upon information and belief ; and in the case of a 
company organized under the laws of any state or territory, 
by the filing of a certified copy of the charter or certificate 
of incorporation. 

PATENTS. 

A patent for any land claimed and located may be 
obtained in the following manner: "Any person, associa- 
tion or corporation authorized to locate a claim, having 
claimed and located a piece of land, and who has or have 
complied with the terms of the law, may file in the proper 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



203 



land office an application for a patent under oath, showing 
such compliance, together with a plat and field notes of 
the claim or claims in common made by or under the 
direction of the United States surveyor general, show- 
ing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, 
which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the 
ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together 
with a notice of such application for a patent, in a con- 
spicuous place on the land embraced in such plat, pre- 
vious to the application for a patent on such plat; and 
shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that 
such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of 
the notice in such land office ; and shall thereupon be 
entitled to a patent to the land in the manner following : 
The registrar of said land office upon the filing of such 
application, plat, field notes, notices and affidavits, shall 
publish a notice that such application has been made, for 
a period of sixty days, in a newspaper to be by him desig- 
nated, as published nearest to such claim ; and he shall 
post such notice in his office for the same period. The 
claimant at the time of filing such application or at any 
time thereafter, within sixty days of publication, shall file 
with the registrar a certificate of the United States sur- 
veyor general that $500 worth of labor has been expended 
or improvements made upon the claim by himself or grant- 
ors ; that the plat is correct, with such further description 
by reference to natural objects or permanent monuments 
as shall identify the claim and furnish an accurate descrip- 
tion to be incorporated in the patent. At the expiration of 
the sixty days of publication, the claimant shall file his 
affidavit showing that the plat and notice have been posted 
in a conspicuous place on the claim during such period of 
publication." 

1 

ADVERSE CLAIMS. 

If no adverse claim shall have been filed with the regis- 
trar of the land office at the expiration of said sixty days, 
the claimant is entitled to a patent upon the payment to 



204 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



the proper officer of $$ per acre in the case of a lode claim, 
and $2.50 per acre for a placer. 

The location of a placer claim and keeping possession 
thereof until a patent shall be issued are subject to local 
laws and customs. 

LAWS APPLICABLE TO ALASKA. 

Many misunderstandings have arisen in regard to the 
land and mineral laws applicable to Alaska, some of the 
United States laws being, by explicit enactment, not oper- 
ative in the district of Alaska. The Commissioner of the 
General Land Office has recently published a statement 
which shows that these are the laws applicable to Alaska: 

(1) The mineral land laws of the United States ; (2) town 
site laws, which provide for the incorporation of town sites 
and acquirement of title thereto from the United States 
Government to the town site Trustees ; (3) the laws pro- 
viding for trade and manufactures, giving each qualified 
person 160 acres of land in a square and compact form. 
The coal land regulations are distinct from the mineral 
regulations or laws, and the jurisdiction of neither coal 
laws nor public land laws extends to Alaska, the Territory 
being expressly excluded by the laws themselves from 
their operation. The act approved May 17, 1884, provid- 
ing for civil government for Alaska, has this language as 
to mines and mining privileges : 

"The laws of the United States relating to mining claims 
and rights incidental thereto shall on and after the passage 
of this act be in full force and effect in said district of 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



205 



Alaska, subject to such regulations as may be made by the 
Secretary of the Interior and approved by the President," 
and lt parties who have located mines or mining privileges 
therein, under the United States laws, applicable to the 
public domain, or have occupied or improved or exercised 
acts of ownership over such claims shall not be disturbed 
therein, but shall be allowed to perfect title by payment so 
provided for." There is stiil more general authority. 

Without this special authority the act of July 4, 1866, 
says: "All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to 
the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are 
hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and 
purchase, and lands in which these are found to occupa- 
tions and purchase by citizens of the United States and by 
those who have declared an intention to become such 
under the rules prescribed by law and according to local 
customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, 
so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with 
the laws of the United States." 

The patenting of mineral lands in Alaska is not a new 
thing, for that work has been going on, as the cases have 
come in from time to time, since 1884. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ALASKA. 



FACTS ABOUT THE LAND OF ICE, SEALS AND GOLD. 

A sudden interest has sprung up in the United States in 
regard to the great land which, although owned by this 
country for thirty years, has received but little general 
attention. 

SEALS AND TOTEM POLES. 

Alaska has, to the general reader, been principally known 
as a land of seals and totem poles — the seals being with us 
always as a subject to quarrel over and be arbitrated. For 
a long time Alaska was looked upon as a good joke, and 
Secretary Seward's purchase of the country from the Rus- 
sians was freely and keenly ridiculed as a piece of useless 
extravagance only to be condoned in consideration of the 
friendly sympathy which Russia had shown to the Union 
cause during the Civil War. So the matter was allowed to 
drop as a subject of discussion, and the allusions to " Uncle 
Sam's Ice-Box, " as the country had been called, became 
infrequent. Later it became the fashion for tourists to take 
a brief trip to the southern coast of Alaska to see the gla- 
ciers and other scenery, while the country north of the 

206 




'JACK MC QUESTEN. 



Mr. McQuesten, who has a store at Circle City, has lived in that 
region for years and is a man of large heart and ready sympathy, 
and probably the most popular man on the Yukon. 



208 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

coast range remained a terra incognita unknown and un- 
heeded. 

DISCOVERY OF ALASKA. 

Alaska came into the possession of the United States by 
purchase in 1867, the price paid being $7,200,000 in gold. 
Before that it had been known as Russian America, having 
come into the possession of Russia by right of discovery, 
the first Europeans to see the Alaskan shores having been 
the Russian navigator, Vitus Bering, who was a Dane by 
birth but was in the service of the Russian government. He 
sailed east from Kamchatka, reaching the American shore in 
1728. Bering made several voyages and was the first 
European to sail on the waters now known as Bering Sea 
and Bering Strait. 

RUSSIAN DOMINION. 

The explorations of Bering were followed by many voy- 
ages by Siberian fur hunters, who took control of the Aleu- 
tian islands and enslaved the natives, treating the latter 
with such severity that their numbers decreased 90 per 
cent in the sixty years prior to 1818. 

The Russian- American Company was organized in 1799, 
and received from the Emperor Paul, a charter. Their 
manager, Baranoff, conquered the country as far as Sitka, 
which was founded in 1801; established a colony in Cali- 
fornia, and engaged in commerce with China, Hawaii and 
the Spanish colonies of the Pacific main. He established 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



209 



the seat of government at Unalaska and was a man of 
iron — cruel and despotic. The Russian government inter- 
fered in behalf of the natives in 1818 and their enslave- 
ment ceased, the Christianizing efforts of the missionary 
Innocentius Veniaminoff, afterward primate of the Greek 
Church, resulting in the conversion of thousands of Aleuts 
and other natives. 

NATIVES BADLY TREATED. 

Although some of the grosser features of oppression were 
eliminated after the imperial intervention in 1818, the 
natives received very bad treatment during the entire period 
of Russian occupation, the fur company having no object 
in the country except to enrich itself. Its barbarous treat- 
ment of the natives at the various trading posts it estab- 
lished became such a scandal that upon the expiry of its 
charter in 1862 the government refused further renewal. 

UNDER THE STARS AND STRIPES. 

After the negotiations of purchase were completed with 
Russia in 1867 the Russian standard was lowered and the 
stars and stripes unfurled on the barracks at Sitka and 
from Russian America the name of the country was changed 
to "Alaska." The names of "Polario," "American 
Siberia," "Zero Islands" and "Walrussia" were suggested, 
but Charles Sumner advocated the name "Alaska" from 
the aboriginal "Al-ak-shak" meaning "the great country" 
or "the continent." 



2IO THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

SIZE OF ALASKA. 

Alaska has an area of 531,400 square miles, equalling one- 
sixth of the United States or one-seventh of Europe, and 
being twice as large as Texas, the largest of the American 
States. It presents great varieties of climate, Southern 
Alaska, under the influence of the Japan stream which 
flows by it, having its climate moderated so that it has no 
great extremes of heat and cold, the mean temperature of 
Sitka being 54.2 degrees in summer and 31.9 degrees in 
winter. That part of the country is very humid and the 
rainfall is from 80 to 130 inches in a year. 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

The general characteristics of the interior have been 
elsewhere described in the chapter on the Yukon Valley 
and the special one on the climate of the country. In 
Southeastern Alaska there are large forests, the principal tree 
being the Sitka spruce, which not infrequently reaches the 
height of 250 feet and covers thousands of square miles of 
the Alexander archipelago. Yellow cedar, a wood admit- 
ting of high polish and having a pleasant, perfumed odor, 
is one of the many excellent trees of this region. 

THE ALASKAN COAST LINE, 

The coast of Southeastern Alaska curves northward and 
westward from Dixon Entrance to Prince William Sound 
550 miles and from there the shore-line extends southward 
and westward for 725 miles to the tip of Alaska. From 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 211 

that point the coast line takes a zigzag northward course to 
Bering Strait and the Arctic Ocean. 

THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 

From the southwestern peninsula extends out into the 
ocean the Aleutian islands, dividing Bering Sea from the 
Pacific main. This archipelago extends for over 1,650 
miles in the direction of Asia and is composed of treeless, 
grassy, mountainous islands, around which blow storms 
which make the name of the Pacific seem a hollow mockery, 
while the overhanging mists testify to the humidity of the 
climate. The moderating influence of the ocean stream 
that flows by these islands is shown by a temperature 
which averages 50 degrees in summer and 30 degrees in 
winter. 

OUR ULTIMATE WEST AND NORTH. 

The island of Attu is the most westerly point of the 
United States, and is situated 400 miles east of Kamchatka 
and 400 miles west of the nearest Alaskan village. It rises 
to a height of 3,084 feet and is the home of about 140 
Aleuts. This island is 2,943 miles west of San Francisco, 
or a little further than the distance (2,900 miles) between 
the latter city and the most eastern point in Maine. 

The most northerly point in the United States is Point 
Barrow, where there is a building erected by the govern- 
ment and a relief station. It is maintained as a trading 
and relief point ; many whalers being lost at this dangerous 
coast. Near the point is the Eskimo village of Nuwak. 



212 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

RIVERS OF ALASKA. 

The principal river of Alaska is the Yukon, which is fully 
described elsewhere. It enters American territory between 
Fort Cudahy (Forty-Mile) and Circle City and empties into 
Norton Sound. Its principal tributary in United States 
territory is the Tanana which joins the main river at 
Weare. 

The Kuskokwim River, and the Nootak River, the former 
emptying into Bering Sea and the latter into the Arctic 
Ocean north of Bering Strait are both long rivers whose 
tributary branches and creeks are said to be rich in gold. 
The climate and other conditions along these rivers are 
about the same as those on the Yukon. 

The Copper River, which empties into the Pacific to he 
west of Mount Elias, has been explored by several parties, 
including Lieutenant Schwatka, who came out from the 
Yukon by way of White and Copper rivers. The river is 
little known but is regarded as one of the more promising 
prospecting grounds. It has been said that a route by the 
Copper River could be made to the Klondike country which 
would reduce the distance to not more than 300 miles from 
the coast. 

PROPOSED ROUTE TO KLONDIKE. 

The proposed route starts inland from the mouth of 
Copper River which it follows up to the mouth of its 
principal tributary, the Chillyna River, which is navigable 
for a considerable distance. From the head of the Chillyna 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



2I 3 



a short road over a low pass would, it is said, reach White 
River, a navigable stream entering the Yukon between Fort 
Selkirk and the mouth of Stewart River. 




PANNING OUT GOLD ON THE KLONDIKE. 



GOLD AT MANY POINTS. 

Gold has been found at many places in Alaska besides 
the Yukon, and on Cook's inlet a number of placer mines 
are being successfully worked. Mr. George F. Beecher, 
in an unpublished report made to the geological survey 
of his investigation in 1895 of the coastal gold districts, 
says that most of the islands of the Alexander archipelago 
contain gold deposits, yet unworked, that would probably 



214 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



repay very handsomely well-directed efforts of placer min- 
ing. 

These deposits are in the neighborhood of Sitka and gen- 
erally on Baranoff and Admiralty islands and the beaches 
of the adjacent mainland. 

Another fairly promising region is in a group of deposits 
on the Kenai peninsula, on the southeast shore of Cook 
inlet and at Yakutal bay and the beaches of Kadiak island. 

These regions have as yet been exploited only to a lim- 
ited degree, owing to the unfavorable physical condition of 
the coast. 

THE NATIVES OF ALASKA. 

The ethnological features of Alaska are very interesting, 
the Eskimos of the north and west; the Aleuts, a Mongo- 
lian race inhabiting the Aleutian archipelago; the Tlingits 
of Southeastern Alaska and the various Indian tribes of the 
interior all being races of great interest to the scientific in- 
vestigator. The aboriginals of the Upper Yukon are the 
Takudh or Takuth Indians, although they always speak 
of themselves as Yukon Indians. Their language is known 
to missionaries as a dialect of Takudh, but they converse 
with traders in a jargon called "Slavey," a mixture of Ca- 
nadian French and hybrid words of English. 

MOUNTAINS OF ALASKA. 

The Alaskan mountains reach magnificent proportions 
and are the highest mountains north of Mexico. Mt. St. 
Elias is 1 8, 200 feet high ; Mt. Wrangell, an active volcano, 



THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 



215 



19,400 feet; Mt. Crillon, 15,900 feet; and Mt. Fairweather, 
I5> 500 feet, being among the most lofty. Alaska is famous 
for its glaciers, which number thousands along the south- 
ern coast line. The Muir glacier, on its sea front, is three 
miles long, and presents a great wall of blue ice 350 feet 
high, with a background of mountains 15,000 feet high. 
There are numerous glaciers between Juneau and Chilcoot 
Pass on the way to the Klondike region. 

SEAL FISHERIES. 

The seal fisheries of Alaska are famous, and the plant 
of the Russian-American Company was in 1870 bought 
by the Alaskan Commercial Company, composed of San 
Francisco capitalists, who continued the seal fisheries 
under a twenty-years' charter. In 1890 the lease of the 
fur seal islands passed into the hands of the North Amer- 
ican Commercial Company. 

The breeding grounds are on the Pribyloff Islands in 
Bering Sea and regulations are now in force to prevent 
the destruction of the seals at a greater rate than their 
natural annual increase. 

FISH IN ALASKAN SEAS. 

The fisheries of Alaska are of great and growing value, 
and the salmon canning industry is one of large importance. 
Codfish, halibut and other valuable food-fish abound in 
Alaskan waters, which are destined to become a most pro- 
lific source of supply. 



2l6 THE GOLD FIELDS OF THE KLONDIKE 

The agricultural possibilities of Alaska are not well 
known. The southern section raises some vegetables and 
even the Yukon valley has shown considerable capabilities 
for summer cultivation of quickly maturing plants. 

The gold excitement will have a great tendency to call 
attention to Alaska's many other resources and to bear 
still further testimony to the wisdom of the once derided 
but now universally approved purchase of the country 
from Russia, 



' '3671- 



KLONDIKE... 

AND ALL POINTS IN 
The Direct Route to 

Seattle, Wash. 



From which Port all Steamships leave Direct for the 

Gold Fields. 



Inquire further of any Railroad or Steamship Agent, or 



W. M. LOWRIE, F. J. WHITNEY, 

Gen. Agent G. N. Ry., Chicago. G. P. T. A. G. N. Ry., St. Paul, Minn. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



017 185 243 2 








■ 



